Unzipped
by RGAP-48
Summary: -COMPLETE- After Phillip and Rex talk Lucas into getting a very... unusual job, how will Sami react when she finds out? And will Lucas and Sami manage to get back together despite their most recent falling out?
1. Distractions

**Unzipped**

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Chapter One

  
  
As much as Lucas had thought that June had been unbearably long, he had to admit that July was seeming to drag on even longer. The days were just bleeding together into one hot, sweaty mess, the heat overbearing and the impulses to go see how Sami was doing impossible to ignore. He knew he had told her not to come back and for the first few days after screaming at her to get out of his apartment, he had tried to make her see that he was having a perfectly good time without her. It had obviously worked, Sami had looked incredibly jealous as she watched him dancing with those other women on the opening night at Alice's Bar. But she had also looked... hurt. And lonely. So, he had felt guilty and had put a stop to it. Not that it had made much difference in the end. Sami still refused to talk to him and Lucas had too much pride to go crawling back to her to apologize when he had been the one that had gotten hurt first.   
  
That left him stuck his apartment, joined by his two brother who were there mostly because they pitied him. Phillip watched Lucas from his seat on the couch while Rex stared straight ahead at the TV, his arms crossed over his chest. Lucas was looking in the general direction of the television as well but Phillip could tell he wasn't watching it. Instead, he was staring off into space, occasionally sighing, probably without even realizing he was doing it. Lucas had been acting like this for the past month and it was driving Phillip crazy. He hated seeing his brother like this. Rex and Phillip had done everything they could to get Lucas and Sami back together but both of them were too stubborn to give in and now they were both miserable.   
  
"Are you ever going to come out of this Great Depression mode or am I going to have to beat some sense into you?" Phillip snapped, finally losing his composure. Lucas looked startled by Phillip's sudden words, then shrugged lifelessly.   
  
"I'm not in Great Depression mode." Lucas stated in a flat voice, infuriating Phillip even more.   
  
"Yes, you are!" Phillip shot back, standing up and pacing back and forth in front of the TV, "All you do is go around whining and sulking like a complete _girl_ and I'm sick of it. You're letting your fight with Sami take control of your life and it has to stop. I hate seeing you like this, bro."   
  
"Can you move?" Rex asked Phillip, "You're blocking All My Children."   
  
"Is _that_ what you're watching? Lucas, you're actually watching soap operas now? Damn, I never expected losing Sami to make you so feminine." Phillip commented, turning to look at the screen in horror.   
  
Rex narrowed his eyes with annoyance, "There's nothing feminine about it and he's not watching it, I'm watching it. Can I help it if this lesbian love triangle thing they've got going on is too hot for words? But of course, Lucas won't do anything lately so there's no way he could actually end up enjoying this stuff. He just sits there like he's a piece of furniture or something."   
  
Lucas finally seemed to jerk back to life and he glared at his brothers, "I didn't ask you two to come over here to gang up on me and talk about what a loser I am in front of me. In fact, I don't remember inviting either of you over here at all. So, why don't you both leave now?" Lucas pointed towards the door, his eyes narrowing with impatience.   
  
"Aw, come on, man." Rex jumped in contritely, "We weren't trying to insult you. We were just trying to show you that you really need to do something instead of just sitting here like you're dead. There's more to life than just Sami."   
  
"I _know_ that." Lucas said hotly, his jaw clenching at Rex's words.   
  
"Do you really?" Phillip cocked his head and raised one eyebrow doubtfully, "Then do something, for God's sake. Don't just sit here, get out and get a freaking hobby."   
  
"I can't believe I'm hearing this from you of all people." Lucas shook his head in disgust, "I mean, have you looked at yourself lately? When you're not hanging all over Belle, you're down at the base. And you," Lucas turned to look accusingly at Rex, "When you're not off fucking the lights out Mimi-"   
  
"Goodness," Phillip placed a hand over his heart with mock consternation, "Such language. And how would you know that Mimi and Rex do that all time?"   
  
"-You're bartending at Alice's bar." Lucas finished, "So, I only have three words to say to you two. Pot. Kettle. Black." Clearly proud of himself, Lucas leaned back against the couch and smirked at the two other men.   
  
Rex immediately jumped to his own defence, "At least Mimi and I are _together_ and don't fight over the stupidest things and end up not talking to each for forever because of it. And you shouldn't be making fun of me and Phillip for spending time at the base and Alice's Bar because at least we _have_ jobs. Unlike you."   
  
"We could find him a job." Phillip suggested, "That might take his mind off of Sami a little bit. I'm thinking that Bonnie might have a job for him. What do you think, Rex?" Lucas didn't miss the wink exchanged between the two brothers before Rex went totally straight-faced again.   
  
"I'm going to have to agree with you there." Rex dead-panned, "Bonnie has already been so successful. First Alice's and now this new club she's opening in three days. I'm sure this new place will be incredibly popular too."   
  
The true opportunist she was, Bonnie had taken the full advantage of her chance to run Alice's. It had only been open for a few weeks and it was obviously making Bonnie tons of money already. And Bonnie had managed to wind Mickey Horton so tightly around her finger that she had convinced him that running another establishment would make them even more money. Mickey and Bonnie had managed to get the ground work done in record time and the new place would be opening that Friday night.   
  
"What kind of place is she opening anyway?" Lucas asked curiously.   
  
"You know, just another one of those club things." Rex answered, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, "Anyways, I know she'd hire you. I have a good idea of what she'd hire you to do. Do you want to go talk to her right now?" Rex followed Phillip's lead and stood up, peering at Lucas anxiously. Lucas couldn't ignore the mischievous and conspirational looks that the two of them were exchanging and he looked up at them suspiciously.   
  
"I think I want some more information first." Lucas told them, "What kind of club is this exactly and what would I be doing? You don't expect me to bartend, do you? Because with my history with alcohol, I don't think that would be the best idea."   
  
"Oh, you definitely wouldn't be bartending." Phillip promised, shifted from one foot to the other, "Rex, tell him what kind of club it is."   
  
Rex lowered his head and mumbled something under his breath, "I can't hear you." Lucas told Rex.   
  
"I said it's a male strip bar!" Rex practically shouted this time, red-faced. Lucas was taken back by this piece of news and it finally sunk in what kind of job Phillip and Rex had in mind for him. His mouth hung open slightly and he shook his head.   
  
"No way in _hell_." Lucas said emphatically, his face reddening with embarrassment, causing the hopeful look on Phillip's face to dissolve. Rex huffed and moved his head to one side in exasperation.   
  
"Why not?" Phillip demanded, "It would be good for you, it would be guaranteed to take your mind off Sami. Think of all the women that would be there, totally drooling over you. It wouldn't even be a job, it would be fun!"   
  
"Then why don't you do it?" Lucas challenged him. Phillip looked stumped by this, then spoke again.   
  
"I'm too busy doing other things at the base. Otherwise, I would." Phillip informed Lucas.   
  
"I'm thinking about doing it." Rex added, "I know I'm already bartending but if I work two jobs, I'll have more money and then I'll be able to marry Mimi sooner. I'm sure stripping would be a lot more enjoyable than bartending."   
  
"Well, that's just you." Lucas responded, "You're obviously an exhibitionist at heart. I'm not." Rex and Phillip looked at him in disbelief, "What? I'm _not_ an exhibitionist. I'm not!"   
  
"Yeah, and that's why Sami was telling me how you always walk around practically naked whenever she's around." Rex interjected sarcastically, "Nope, you're not an exhibitionist at all. Seriously, you can't say you aren't at least a little intrigued by the idea, can you?"   
  
"It's definitely a job I've never really considered." Lucas said slowly, "But I don't know if I could pull it off. I'm not sure if I'm... good enough to be one of those guys, you know." he hung his head, embarrassed that he had just admitted that. When he looked up, Phillip and Rex were staying at him like he was crazy.   
  
"Are you kidding? God, what has Sami done to your self-esteem? See, this is just one more reason why you should take this job. If you decide to do this, you'll realize how many women are attracted to you and that's there a lot more great women out there besides Sami."   
  
"But I don't want any other woman." Lucas protested, "I just want Sami. I realized that after I tried to find someone else at Alice's Bar."   
  
"And that's just fine. You're not supposed to mix business with pleasure anyway. But by taking this job, you'll realize that you have nothing to worry about, as far as looks go. I mean, all of us Roberts' men are packing, right?" Rex added with a grin.   
  
"Hell, yes." Phillip nodded in agreement and gave Rex a quick high five. Phillip then turned back to Lucas, looking optimistic, "So you'll do it?"   
  
"What about Will?" Lucas protested, "I have to be a good example for him and this is not the kind of job I want him to consider getting when he gets older."   
  
"You can just do it over the summer and he'll never have to know." Rex swung his arm over Phillip's shoulders, "For us? Your wonderful brothers? The ones that are really sick of seeing you mope around like you just lost your best friend?"   
  
"I think I did." Lucas grumbled, then sighed reluctantly, "All right, I'll do it. Will that get you off my back?"   
  
Phillip and Rex exchanged another round of high fives, "Yes! I can't believe we finally got him." Rex looked at Lucas expectantly, then looked towards the apartment door, "Come on, let's go talk to Bonnie."   
  
"Right away?" Lucas checked, still feeling pretty uneasy about his decision.   
  
"Yeah. Hey, don't look so freaked out, dude." Phillip tried to reassure his brother, "Bonnie's going to love you."   
  
"She will." Rex agreed, "In fact, she's always telling me how I have the sexiest brothers ever. But then again, I think Bonnie thinks anything on three legs is sexy. She's going to be so happy that you've decided to get a job at the club."   
  
"All right." Lucas rolled his eyes and his brothers' excessive enthusiasm and followed the two of them out of the apartment. Still trying to get his head around what he was about to go do, he locked his apartment door and left the apartment building, walking with decidedly less enthusiasm than his two brothers as they started heading towards Bonnie's new club.

**Author's Note: Okay, I needed a little break from Survival Of The Fittest so I decided to start writing this. I hope you like it. Oh, and I think Lucas needs a stripping buddy (No, not that kind of stripping buddy, silly. Although you do have to wonder about me sometimes but I promise, this is 100% Lumi). Who would you like it to be? Patrick? Rex? Phillip? Brady? Please tell me what you think and thanks for reading.**


	2. Unzipped

Chapter Two

  
  
**Author's Note: It's been a while since I've updated this one but hopefully I'll be better about updating it from now on. I'm working on three fics right now and I'm trying to go back and forth between them all. Thanks for the encouragement you all gave me for chapter one.   
  
RomanticShadeOfBlue:** Thanks, I'm glad you think it's interesting, I think I'll have a lot of fun writing it. And I think Rex would be great stripper too.   
  
**Marina Black:** I don't actually watch AMC but my friend does and she's always talking about it, so I added it in just for her... she knows who she is ;) Thanks for the review.   
  
**Kiko:** Don't worry, Lumi will get hot and heavy in later chapters. Then again, when _don't_ they in my fics, lol?   
  
**Allyse:** I really appreciate the review and your wish is my command, Phillip will get naked ;)   
  
**bebe-chrissy:** Patrick will also strip. Thanks for reviewing.   
  
**Sara:** Thanks for the feedback, I hope you continue to think the story is original and well-written as it progresses.   
  
**Jennifer Lockhart:** Lol, you definitely swayed my opinion. Lucas and Patrick stripping together would be awesome so in later chapters, they will.   
  
**Jamie's Spawn:** I knew you'd love the AMC thing. Oh, look, there you go with your 'too hard' line again... lol, looks like you didn't have to choose, Rex and Patrick will both get their sexy bodies up on the stripping stage.   
  
**I had three people requesting Patrick, three requesting Rex, one requesting Phillip and two requesting all three Roberts' men stripping together (Lucas, Phillip and Rex). So, since I'm here to fulfill all of my reader's needs (through writing of course :S, don't get any ideas...), I decided that Patrick, Rex, Phillip and Lucas will all be stripping in due time. Because the more naked men in Salem, the better, right? **  
  
Bonnie's new club, which had been appropriately named 'Unzipped', was filled with activity when Phillip, Rex and Lucas arrived. Mickey was standing in front of the building, giving a few of the workers some instructions while Julie kept trying to interrupt him with her protests. Inside the club, Bonnie was bustling around, snapping the rubber band around her wrist anxiously and hassling the workers to move faster. Tagging along behind her were Mimi and a small, spotted dog which was wearing some strange kind of G-string that looked like it was made for dogs. Rex noticed Lucas looking at the dog and gave the dog and laughed.   
  
"Bonnie's always dressing up poor Max." Rex told Lucas, "I feel so bad for that dog. Although, she's never dressed him up in female underwear before. She must be really stressed right now."   
  
"She looks it." Phillip remarked, watching the frazzled woman pressed her hand against her forehead before reaching into her shirt. She retrieved a packet of gum and quickly popped a piece into her mouth. Chewing relentlessly on the piece of gum, her eyes finally came to rest on the three men. She hurried over to them, looking more than a little relieved to see them.   
  
"Oh, thank you so much, Rex." Bonnie gushed, clasping his hand in hers, "I'm so happy you decided to bring back some more help. This place is a mess right now, we still have so much to do. I don't know how we're going to manage finishing everything before opening night."   
  
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Bonnie." Rex chided her gently, "I happen to think everything looks like it's coming along nicely. Don't worry so much, I know everything will fall into place way before the club opens."   
  
"Well, it will now that you're here." Bonnie placed a hand on Rex's shoulder and tried to guide him in one direction, "Now, you three gentlemen can just go over there and start moving those boxes to-"   
  
Rex cut Bonnie off and extracted the hand she had dropped onto his shoulder, "Not so fast. I'll be happy to help you out in a little while, I'm not sure about these other two, but we actually came here to talk business."   
  
"Oh?" Bonnie sounded intrigued by Rex's words, "Does this mean you've decided to take the stripping job, Rex? I've been begging you to take it ever since the club permits were finalized, _please_, Rex, you just _have_ to do it."   
  
"Actually," Rex fought back a smile at the desperation in Bonnie's words, "I have decided to take the job. And so has Lucas."   
  
Bonnie seemed stunned speechless for a moment but after about ten seconds had passed, she sprung to life. She flung herself at Lucas and Rex, hugging and kissing and thanking them immensely. Lucas was almost overcome by Bonnie's enthusiasm and tried to pull away from her. Rex just let the woman do her thing because unlike Lucas, he was already used to Bonnie's antics. But the expression on Lucas' face while the woman gushed over him was enough to make a guy burst out laughing.   
  
"You two are my saviors, I swear!" Bonnie said breathlessly, finally pulling away, much to Lucas' relief, "I mean, we've already got some other men lined up for the stripping jobs but they're missing that little extra something that both of you have. You're both going to such big hits with everyone on opening night."   
  
"Wow, I guess this means that you took the job." Mimi spoke up in a wry voice, her green eyes sparkling with excitement, "I can't wait to see you get up there, Rex. And I'm sure both of you will be awesome too." she added, directing her attention at Lucas and Phillip.   
  
Phillip shook his head, "Woah, you've got things mixed up. I'm not stripping. Only Lucas and Rex are."   
  
"Come on, Phillip, it will be more fun if you do it too." Lucas urged Phillip, "I won't feel so self-conscious if it's not just me and Rex."   
  
"Yeah, Phillip, brothers don't let brothers get naked alone." Rex coaxed him.   
  
Mimi smothered a giggle behind her hand, "I'm not even going to go into how many sick ways that could be taken." Lucas, Rex and Phillip all cringed and Phillip then shrugged his shoulders in a relenting gesture.   
  
"I guess I might as well." he murmured, making sure to step out of Bonnie's reach, "It might be kind of fun."   
  
"Thank you, sweetie. This means so much to me." Bonnie grinned broadly at him and her grin was so infectious that Phillip had to smile back. Bonnie's eyes suddenly flickered to a spot behind Phillip and they lit up almost immediately, "And now, I think it's time for you to meet my son. He has a job here too and it will be good for you to get to know your one of your fellow strippers ahead of time." she brushed past Phillip and rushed over to a man carrying several cardboard boxes that hid his face from view. Bonnie took the boxes from him and set them down on the floor.   
  
"Thanks for getting those, Patrick. Now, there's some people over here I'd like you to meet." Bonnie led Patrick over to the three brothers and gave them another grateful smile, "Patrick, I think you may have already met Rex but these are his brothers, Lucas and Phillip."   
  
Patrick nodded politely at the two of men, "It's nice to meet you. And it's nice to see you again, Rex." he also addressed the last man.   
  
"They're going to be stripping with you." Bonnie told him, letting out a small, excited squeal, "You're all going to be fabulous."   
  
"What's this about, Bonnie?" Rex, Patrick, Phillip and Lucas turned around to see Mickey and Julie standing behind them, eyeing Bonnie inquisitively.   
  
"I have some good news, Mickey." Bonnie slung her arm around Rex's shoulder, "All four of these wonderful men have taken stripping jobs here at Unzipped."   
  
Julie looked out an indignant howl, "How could you all be so stupid? This club is dirty, this club is beneath you, this club should go straight to hell where it belongs. Uncle Mickey, I cannot believe you are helping Bonnie turn Salem into some sleazy, Las Vegas-wannabe town like this. And Lucas, you're my blood relative, how could you lower your standards so much? This is not the kind of thing Hortons engage in."   
  
"Oh, stuff it," Bonnie scoffed, momentarily forgetting she was supposed to be being nice to Julie, "You're just jealous you didn't think of it first. It's a fabulous idea. With these gorgeous men baring everything, Unzipped is going to put Salem on the map in a big way!"   
  
"Don't get your hopes up." Julie's voice was sharper and colder than ice, "The women in Salem are much to classy to come join in this disgusting past time of watching men undress in public. Opening night is going to be a flop because no one will be here. This club will be virtually empty, I know it will."   
  
Mimi couldn't resist jumping in to defend her mother, "I happen to think it's a great idea. We don't have any strip clubs in Salem and I know this one is going to be a success. And if I really thought it was _that_ trashy, I wouldn't have gotten a job here."   
  
"You have a job here?" Julie queried incredulously, shooting Mimi a barbed glare.   
  
"That's right," Mimi almost looked proud of herself, "I already have two jobs but I figured that another one couldn't hurt. I am now all of the strippers' official water girl. What woman can say that this isn't her dream job?"   
  
"I can," Julie returned disdainfully, "You all disgust me with your low-down ways of living. I am leaving this despicable place." Flipping her hair over her shoulder, Julie stomped out of the club.   
  
"She'll be back." Mickey promised the group of people, "She says she can't stand it here but I know she enjoys it here more than she'll ever admit."   
  
"Every female on earth is going to adore this place once we get it up and running." Bonnie fanned herself with her hand, "We'll definitely need to have a good sprinkler system installed though because this place is going to be burning up. Oh, and one other thing," Bonnie turned back to Rex, Phillip and Lucas, looking a little bit uneasy now, "We'll supply your... outfits here but there is one thing you'll need to buy yourself."   
  
Rex, Mimi and Patrick both knew exactly what was coming and quickly swivelled their heads around so they could see Phillip and Lucas' reaction, "What's that?" Phillip asked curiously.   
  
"It's what you need to wear underneath your clothes," normally, Bonnie didn't get uncomfortable when talking about these things but she was a little bit wary of what Phillip and Lucas' reactions would be, "Youneedtobuysomegstrings." she said as quickly as she could.   
  
Lucas blinked, "Excuse me?"   
  
"You need to buy G-strings, Lucas." Rex said it slower for Lucas and Phillip's benefit, giving the two of them patiently amused looks, "You need to make sure they're either red, black or silver, so you match the, um, club's colour scheme, right, Bonnie?"   
  
Bonnie nodded, bitingly her lip nervously.   
  
"Um... you're not going to get me in one of those things." Phillip stated.   
  
"Yeah, same here." Lucas agreed in a stubborn voice, "Those things are really scary."   
  
Bonnie began snapping the rubber band around her wrist again, "Now, now, you two, I'm already very stressed out. Please, don't make this harder on me and just cooperate. There's no shame in it."   
  
"She's right, you guys," Rex jumped in, "I was a little weirded out by the idea at first too. But _all_ strippers wear them, that's just what they do. I'm sure all of us will get used to it eventually. We can all go buy them together so it's not so embarrassing."   
  
"But it _will_ be embarrassing." Lucas argued, "I don't want to be caught in some store looking at G-strings by someone."   
  
"Although I'm sure you're not thinking of anyone in particular," Phillip replied, then coughed something that sounded distinctly like 'Sami'.   
  
"Patrick and I can come too." Mimi chimed in, "He still hasn't bought his underwear yet and if I go, you can just pretend I'm the one buying it. Why don't we all go... tomorrow night?" she decided.   
  
"Sounds good to me," Rex said, then looked at his brothers, "What do you two say?"   
  
"Fine," Lucas grunted ungratefully after a few minutes, obviously still perturbed at the idea of wearing G-strings.   
  
"I guess I'll go too then." Phillip conceded, still sounding uncertain, "But I'm really not hot for this idea."   
  
"You don't have to be yet." Bonnie responded, "I'm sure it will grow on all of you. And now that we've gotten that out of the way, why don't you all go over and help me move those boxes into the back. I really could use your help, I want to make sure everything runs smoothly.   
  
Phillip, Lucas and Rex all followed Bonnie over to a small mountain of boxes and began carrying the boxes into the storage room of the club and all thoughts about G-strings were quickly forgotten. 


	3. Shopping For G Strings

Chapter Three

  
  
**Author's Note: I know Sami has been missing in action for the first part of this fic but she'll make an entrance soon. I'm just enjoying writing Lucas' scenes with his stripping buddies _a lot_ right now ;). Ugh... I would have had this up so much sooner but ff.net was crapping out on everyone so I'm sorry about that.**  
  
Rex hung his head while sifting through the racks of panties, avoiding eye contact with anyone else in the store. Next to him was Phillip poking at some black g-strings half-heartedly while looking up every two minutes to make sure no one was watching him.   
  
"You were right, Lucas." Rex said in a low voice when his brother re-joined himself, Phillip and Mimi, "This is a lot more embarrassing than I thought it would be."   
  
"Yeah, you see, that's why I finished picking out mine quickly," Lucas responded, handing over a clump of red, black and silver material to Mimi, "Hold these for me. I don't want to be seen carrying them."   
  
Mimi rolled her eyes and tossed the unmentionables into the shopping bucket she had set at her feet earlier, "Okay but you're going to have to try these on after Rex, Phillip and Patrick finish picking."   
  
Lucas checked Mimi's face for signs that she was joking. When he saw that she wasn't, he cleared his throat nervously, "I don't think the people working here would be very pleased if they found out there were men trying on their sexy underwear in the change rooms. I'll just take them home, I'm sure they'll all fit me fine."   
  
"Yeah, Meems, don't make this anymore painful than it already is." Phillip scolded her, inspecting a lacy red g-string, "Nope, not this one." he muttered, "Too girly."   
  
Mimi threw up her hands in exasperation, "Lucas and Phillip, you both need to quit being so difficult. It's a necessity that you try on your things before you buy them because they're on sale and you can't take them back if they don't fit. And no one has to know that you're trying them on if they don't see you. Besides, as your official water girl, it goes without saying that I get to see you in your stripping outfits first."   
  
A small smile graced her lips as she pulled something off the rack and held against the front of Rex's pants, "I know it doesn't go with the colour scheme but damn, Rex, this would look so hot on you." Rex looked down at the scrap of clothing Mimi was holding and immediately groaned.   
  
"That's gross, Mimi." Rex said, eyeing the baby blue, see-through thong with disgust. He pushed Mimi's hand away and looked up to see Phillip leering at him.   
  
"I think Phillip would look good in _this_ one." Rex added, pulling out a pink g-string with ruffles and throwing it at Phillip. Phillip dodged the flying panties, then selected a leopard spotted thong from the rack and flung it at Rex.   
  
"We all know you want that one, Rex. Don't deny it." Phillip shot back. Before an all-out war of the panties could be started between the two men, Mimi stepped between them and picked up the panties they had thrown.   
  
"If you don't want people noticing you, then it's probably a good idea not to start throwing merchandise in all directions." Mimi commented, shaking her head a little bit at their childish behavior, "Stop annoying each other and pick your underwear."   
  
Rex and Phillip both went back to looking through the racks and a few minutes later, Patrick returned with his selections.   
  
"Here, Mimi." Patrick shoved the g-strings into Mimi's arms and Mimi sighed and placed them in the bucket next to Lucas'. After that, Patrick diverted his attention to Phillip and Rex, who were only holding two g-strings each.   
  
"Why are you guys taking so long? Are you trying to prolong this? Do you enjoy doing this or something?" Patrick demanded, looking just as embarrassed and out of place as the other three males did.   
  
"I'm trying to find black ones in my size." Rex shot back in a low voice, "I think I'll look best in black, so that's all I'm getting."   
  
"I'm going to get different colours." Phillip added, wrinkling his nose a little bit at Rex, "That way, people won't think I never change my underwear." Rex tried to punch Phillip in the arm but Phillip quickly moved out of the way, "What? It's true. What do you think people are going to think when you always have on black g-strings and nothing else?"   
  
"Fine, I'll get the other colours too." Rex relented grudgingly, yanking out a red g-string and checking the size.   
  
About five minutes later, Phillip sighed with relief and held up a wad of g-strings triumphantly, "Finished! And it's about damn time too." Suddenly he frowned and shrunk back a little into the rack of panties, "Uh oh. Blonde alert. And she sure does look familiar."   
  
Lucas stiffened, but didn't make any movements, "You're kidding right? She's not here, is she?" Lucas croaked, slowly inching behind Patrick.   
  
"Oh, we definitely know this blonde." Phillip realized, "Shit, I hope they don't see us."   
  
"Why now of all times would Sami decide to come into this store?" Lucas asked rhetorically, fully hiding himself behind Patrick. Mimi whirled around to see who Phillip was looking at and then turned back around to shoot Phillip an annoyed look.   
  
"Lucas, it's not Sami. It's Nicole. And some other girl too." Mimi observed, "You can come out now, Lucas."   
  
"No, I can't." Lucas groaned from behind Patrick, "I can't let Nicole see me either. She'd never let me hear the end of it."   
  
"Why don't we all go over to the change room then?" Mimi suggested, "I think Rex is finished finding his stuff."   
  
"I already told you that I'm not trying anything on here." Lucas hissed, peeking out from behind Patrick's shoulder, "Can we just leave without Nicole seeing us, please? You're going to get us kicked out if you make us try the g-strings on."   
  
"Hush," Mimi replied, leading Rex towards the fitting rooms, the shopping bucket filled with g-strings on her left arm, "I'll pretend that I'm trying all the stuff on and I'll take turns bringing you guys into the room with me. You only have to try on one g-string each, since you're buying all of them in same sizes, right? Come on, it will take two seconds."   
  
"I highly doubt that." Rex muttered but followed Mimi towards the dressing rooms. They managed to make it all the way over there without being detected by Nicole and Mimi quickly snuck Rex into one of them fitting rooms. Patrick, Phillip and Lucas sat down on one of the benches outside the fitting room and waited for their turn to go inside and try on their own g-strings. The minutes went by and only muffled noises came from the dressing room Rex and Mimi had went inside. Phillip rested the back of his head in his hands and leaned against the wall.   
  
"Those two might be a while. Although I really don't understand why they can't go five minutes without a quickie in some random semi-private place." he quipped, his comment winning him a dirty look from Patrick, "Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm not making fun of Mimi, I'm just telling the truth!"   
  
About five minutes later, Rex and Mimi finally came out of the dressing room, their faces slightly redder than before and Mimi's hair was undeniably wrinkled.   
  
"I never realized trying on clothes could be so strenuous." Phillip said as he got to his feet, "You look positively flushed, Mimi. Couldn't resist G-string boy's advances?"   
  
"You don't know what you're talking about." Mimi said, the pinkish-red colour in her cheeks darkening slightly. She tugged on Phillip's arm and dragged him over to the dressing rooms, "Come on, it's your turn." Mimi told Phillip. Phillip followed her over to the dressing rooms, a bunched up g-string in hand but stalled in front of the dressing room Mimi and Rex had come out of.   
  
"I don't think I want to go in there anymore." Phillip murmured, looking at Rex and Mimi knowingly, "I think we should go in this one." Phillip walked into the dressing room next to it and Mimi followed him inside, looking irritated. They left the dressing room soon after that, taking only about a fifth of the time Rex and Mimi had. Now Mimi looked over at Lucas and tilted her head towards the dressing room.   
  
"You have to try yours on now." Mimi instructed him and Lucas reluctantly followed her into the dressing room. Once they were inside, Mimi looked down at the article of clothing in Lucas' hands pointedly.   
  
"Go ahead and try it on. Don't let me stop you." Mimi's smile widened at the awkward expression on Lucas' face.   
  
"I think you're enjoying this a lot more than you should." he complained, "And uh, I think I'll just try this on over my pants."   
  
"That's what Phillip did too." Mimi returned, "Just make sure it fits really tight and then you'll know for the most part if it fits or not."   
  
_So, Phillip tried his g-string on over his pants and yet Mimi doesn't mention Rex? Wow, maybe Phillip really wasn't exaggerating_, Lucas thought, almost cringing at his thoughts. He tried to push away mental images of Rex and Mimi doing the nasty in the dressing room as he stepped into the tiny g-string and pulled it on. Once he was finished, he looked up at Mimi, who was pursing her lips to keep from smiling.   
  
"I think it... fits." Mimi finally managed to say without bursting into laughter. Lucas looked down at the g-string, which was pulled over his jeans, self-consciously.   
  
"It looks really dumb, doesn't it? Everyone is going to laugh at me just like you are, aren't they? Dammit, I can't do this." he stated, snapping the thin strap of the g-string angrily.   
  
"No, no, no," Mimi protested, "You only look funny because you're wearing it over your pants. Once you aren't wearing the pants and are out there stripping, you won't look funny, I promise. You'll look really great and everyone will love you. Same with Phillip and Rex. It won't be funny once you start strip-"   
  
"Ooh, ooh, is the G-string guy in here?" a voice outside their dressing room asked and whoever it was flung the curtain aside. The woman that had entered the store earlier with Nicole squealed with delight upon seeing Lucas, then frowned almost immediately after.   
  
"Lose the pants, they take away from the whole effect, you know what I mean?" the woman eyed Lucas critically, "But I'm sure you could definitely do that red g-string justice if all the other stuff wasn't being so obstructive."   
  
"Crystal, stop being so-" Nicole stopped dead in front of Lucas and Mimi's dressing room, her blue eyes growing wide with surprise, "Lucas? Oh my God, what is _wrong_ with you? When Crystal and I overheard Phillip and Rex talking about the guy in here trying on G-strings, I never thought-"   
  
"Nicole, get out!" Lucas exclaimed, his face burning, "No one wants you here."   
  
Crystal looked shocked and her eyes moved between Nicole and Lucas, "Oh... you two know each other?"   
  
Nicole raised her eyebrows and nodded slowly, "Yes, actually we do. Crystal, meet my ex-husband- Lucas the cross-dresser."   
  
"Your ex-husband?" Crystal shook her head in amazement, "Damn, Nikki, you sure do get around. Maybe even more than I do and that's saying something because I'm a hooker."   
  
Lucas couldn't resist chuckling at that comment, almost forgetting Nicole's comment about him being a cross-dresser, "I think I'll have to agree with you there."   
  
"Um... at least I'm not a guy that goes around trying on G-strings, you _freak_." Nicole spat out angrily.   
  
"You don't know what you're talking about." Lucas struck back, "I happen to have had a very good reason for trying that thing on."   
  
"Like what?" Nicole challenged.   
  
Mimi stepped between the two incensed people and held up a hand, "Okay, I think we're going to be leaving the store now." she piped up, "Come on, let's get going, Lucas. See you later, Nicole." Mimi practically dragged Lucas away and she, Phillip, Rex and Patrick all made their way towards the front of the store. Patrick reminded Mimi that he hadn't had the chance to try on his g-strings but Mimi simply told him she was sure they would fit. All four men got Mimi to pay for their g-strings and once they had all left the store, Lucas turned to glare at Rex and Phillip.   
  
"Why the hell did you send Crystal and Nicole into my dressing room, you assholes?" he demanded, "That was totally uncalled for."   
  
"We didn't mean to," Rex retorted, "All we did was say something about how you were in there trying on g-strings and how funny it was and then Crystal overheard and starting flipping open the curtains looking for you. We didn't mean for it to happen."   
  
"Whatever." Lucas broke off conversation with one hostile word and kicked at the ground with his foot. A few moments later, Mimi's cheerful voice broke the heavy silence.   
  
"Hey, don't worry about it so much. Just think, in two nights, you'll all be stripping at Unzipped. I'm sure Nicole and Crystal will see you and then it will all make sense to them. Then you won't have anything to worry about. Aren't you excited?"   
  
"I can't wait." Lucas said sourly as all six of them made their way out into the parking lot, in search of their cars. 


	4. Stage Fright

Chapter Four

  
  
It was early evening and the sky had already begun to darken when Jan came into Shawn's room in the country home that night. Once Shawn was looking at her, she gave him a little smile and twirled around for him so he could survey her outfit from all angles. After she had done that, she put one hand on her hip and looked at him expectantly.   
  
"How do I look?" she asked him. To humor her, Shawn took in the knee-high, lace-up boots, black mini-skirt and low-cut, dark red tank top. He finally met her eyes again with question glinting in his own eyes.   
  
"You look nice," Shawn decided to be diplomatic, since it probably wouldn't go over well if Shawn told her she looked more like a prostitute than anything else, "Going somewhere?"   
  
"Actually, yes I am," Jan flipped her hair over her shoulder, "I'm going to put on a wig so no one will recognize me and then my friends are going to pick me up and we're all going to go to the opening night of the new male strip club Mimi's mom is running. There's going to be so many hot guys there and it will be very enjoyable. I'm sure they wouldn't be as stubborn as you are about not sleeping with me."   
  
"That's probably why they're strippers." Shawn returned, rolling his eyes, "But you have fun with that. I know I'll enjoy a night of peace and quiet."   
  
"Are you sure?" Jan stepped right up to the cage and ran her fingertips over the metal bars, "Because I do feel a _little_ guilty about leaving you here alone like this. I know a way you could get me to stay." she slowly ran her tongue along her bottom lip and watched Shawn's eyes glaze over a little bit with something that looked a lot like lust before he turned away from her. Jan felt a small surge of triumph as she visualized the expression he had just had in his eyes seconds before. She knew she was slowly to getting to him. It was only natural. She was doing everything she could to make him want her and he was a normal male who had a pulse. He'd eventually get so horny, he'd have to give in and sleep with her. It was only a matter of time.   
  
"No, I'm sure I'll be fine." Shawn muttered, "Go have fun with the naked man-whores."   
  
Jan nodded and let out a dreamy sigh, "This night would only be made better if you were working as a stripper at Unzipped too, Shawn. If you had a job there, I swear, I would never leave the club."   
  
"Well, that's not going to happen." Shawn grimaced and gestured a little with one hand, "Go on, go finish getting ready."   
  
"I'll do that." Jan replied, turning and leaving the room. A few minutes after she had finished putting on her wig, Nicole's car pulled up in front of the country home. Grinning to herself, Jan yelled a quick good-bye to Shawn and hurried out to meet Nicole and Crystal.

* * *

Sami sat on the couch in her apartment, draped over one of the pillows and sobbing into a tissue while her eyes remained locked on the television screen. She had started watching Object of my Affection a while ago and was now nearing the end of the movie. Nina had just declared her love for her gay roommate/best friend, who was already sleeping with another man, and Nina was now waiting for him to respond to her.   
  
"I want you to marry me. I want to be with you forever. That's what I want," Nina told him, her eyes filled with tears, "What do you want?"   
  
George was silent for a moment but finally stated, "I want Paul."   
  
_I want Paul. That has got to be one of the most depressing lines I have ever heard in a movie_, Sami thought. Nina's face crumpled at almost the exact same time Sami's did and another flood of tears spilled down Sami's cheeks, "No, how could you do that to her?" Sami wailed, wiping at her eyes with another tissue, "How could you hurt her like that? Nina, I know exactly what you're going through." Sami realized what she had just said and frowned, "Well, not _exactly_ because Lucas isn't gay but it still hurts so much. Why can't anyone ever end up happy anymore?"   
  
A few minutes later, Sami shook her head, disgusted with herself, "God, Sami, stop getting so worked up over a freaking movie. You are being such an idiot." she grabbed a few more tissues and was wiping away the remains of her tears when someone knocked on her door. Sami looked at the door hopefully, praying that Lucas had decided to come see her. She flicked off the television set and practically flew over to the door. She pulled the door open to see Belle and Mimi standing in front of her and her face fell.   
  
"Um, hey, Belle. Hey, Mimi. What's going on?" she asked.   
  
Belle gave her sister a critical once-over before speaking, "You don't look well, Sami. I guess it's a good thing Mimi and I came over to see you. We were wondering if you wanted to come to the opening night of Unzipped with us."   
  
"The what?" Sami rubbed her eyes tiredly.   
  
"Sami!" Belle cried angrily, "I already told you all about the new club a week ago. Remember when I came over to have lunch with you? I told you about it then."   
  
"It's all coming back to me now." Sami responded slowly. The truth was, she didn't remember Belle saying anything about any club. Belle must have briefly glossed over the topic in between her rants about Shawn and Phillip, which Sami had been drowning out for the most part.   
  
"Great. Well, Mimi and I are going to head over there and we'd love it if you would come with us. Rex and Phillip stood us up because they said the strip club was stupid and that they'd rather die before setting foot in it. Besides, you really need to do something other than watch movies and pine away for Lucas."   
  
"You know, as much fun as a trip to a strip club sounds, I think I'll take a rain check." Sami told the two women, hoping they would leave her alone now. She had already been in a relentless bad mood ever since she and Lucas had separated and Belle's plans for the evening wouldn't do anything to lift her spirits. The last thing she wanted to do was spend the night out with her giggling, cheerful sister and watching random guys that meant nothing to her, get naked in front of tons of screaming females. She would be better off crying over movies for the rest of the night.   
  
"Are you sure?" Belle pressed, "I think you'd really have a good time. It would be good for you to do something different."   
  
"No, I don't think so." Sami responded, irritated with Belle's persistence, "But you two have fun, okay?" She slowly pushed on the door until it slid shut with a soft click. Behind the door, she could hear Mimi huff loudly.   
  
"See, Belle, I told you she wouldn't come with us." Mimi was saying, her voice becoming more incoherent with each passing second. Sami walked away from the door and settled back down on the couch, preparing to spend the rest of the night watching movies.

* * *

Lucas stood backstage with Patrick, Rex, Phillip and two other strippers working that night, his throat dry and his chest tight. All of the other strippers had already gotten into costume but Lucas still stood dressed in his street clothes, frowning at Rex, Phillip and Patrick's costumes. All three of them were wearing tight black pants and little red bow-ties around their necks. Bonnie had instructed everyone to dress exactly the same for opening night. As of right now, Bonnie was outside, drooling over one of the other strippers, Lucas was pretty sure his name was Tanner. There was also a blond stripper named Ryan and a brown haired man named Tyler who were standing off to the side together. Lucas had only spent about twenty minutes with the two of him and he already had his suspicions about the two men. They were way too touchy-feely with each other to be straight.   
  
"Aren't you going to get into costume, Lucas?" Patrick asked, holding up the pants and bow-tie Bonnie had set out for him. Lucas just stared at the costume for a moment, then shook his head.   
  
"Nope," he answered, turning his head away from the offending outfit.   
  
Phillip scrunched up his nose at his brother, "What's wrong, Lucas? You're not backing out, are you? You wouldn't dare! Not after we've been put through so much to get here."   
  
"I just don't want to go out there tonight." Lucas insisted, "I changed my mind."   
  
"Aw, does little Lucas have stage fright?" Rex mocked him, "Or are you just afraid that Sami's going to be out there and will flee for the club exit one she sees you half naked?"   
  
"She wouldn't _run_ from me!" Lucas yelped indignantly, "And it's not that at all. I just don't think I'm ready for this yet."   
  
"All of us have been practicing for tonight's opening since we got the jobs." Patrick reminded Lucas.   
  
"Yeah," Rex sneered at Lucas, "You're just wimping out on us, man. Don't you have any self-respect? If you did, you wouldn't go back on our agreement."   
  
"Hey, hey, now," Tyler chided the men as he made his way over to them, "What's all this about? Where's the love? You don't need to get angry, we can talk things out like nice people."   
  
"Fine, then why don't you convince this guy here to put on his costume and get ready to go out there." Rex shot back.   
  
"I can do that," Tyler nodded and clapped his hand down on Lucas' shoulder, "There's nothing to be afraid of. Those women out there... they're really deprived. They aren't going to be picky and even if they were picky, you'd meet up to anyone standards." he squeezed Lucas' shoulder and then began squeezing Lucas' arm, "See, this is amazing. All this muscle and everything... they definitely hired you for a reason. Wow."   
  
_Fantastic. If I didn't know he was gay before, I know now. And he is feeling me up. That's a little creepy_, "Okay, you've, uh, convinced me. I'm going to go get changed now." Lucas took the pants and bow-tie from Patrick and turned to go find a place to get changed. But before he could go anywhere, Bonnie and Tanner resurfaced backstage.   
  
"Well, Tanner just did a fantastic job out there and Ryan, it's your turn next." Bonnie piped up cheerfully. Ryan gave Bonnie and a quick smile and began to exit backstage. Tyler quickly caught up to him and twirled Ryan back around.   
  
"Wait a sec, hun," Tyler's fingers flew to the other man's neck, "You're bow-tie is crooked. Let me fix it." After a minute, Tyler finished and stepped back about an inch.   
  
"Thanks, sweetheart." Ryan replied and Lucas almost cringed at having to hear two grown men use such saccharine pet names on each other. Then he couldn't resist cringing when the two of them brought their lips for a few seconds and he immediately averted his eyes. Rex, Phillip, Patrick and Tanner had all looked away as well but Bonnie on the other hand, didn't seem at all fazed by the displays of affection thrown between Ryan and Tyler.   
  
"Okay, then," Bonnie brought her hands together and made a little clapping noise, "Rex, Phillip and Lucas, I have a special request for the three of you." she told them.   
  
"What is it?" Phillip asked.   
  
"I was wondering if all three of you could go on together after Ryan finishes." Bonnie responded, a little smile twitching at the corners of her mouth, "Since all three of you are brothers, I just figured it might be fun to try on the first night. I know all the ladies in the crowd will love it." _Except your mother_, Bonnie added silently, _Honestly, I thought I liked that woman but all she's talked about tonight is how happy she is that Lucas and Sami are apart. She's totally wicked not to want her son to be happy with the woman he loves, so I am going to give her the shock of her life. _  
  
"That sounds like a good plan, actually." Rex broke in, glancing at his oldest brother, "Maybe then Lucas won't be self-conscious. He's been a nervous wreck this entire time."   
  
"I have not." Lucas lied.   
  
Bonnie gave Lucas a sympathetic pat on the back, "There's nothing to be nervous about, babe. You are going to knock 'em dead out there, you hear me? They're gonna love you. Now, you go get changed because you're going to get up there soon." Bonnie rubbed her hands together, "Oh, and I so looking forward to seeing you all get out there and shaking it."   
  
_Too bad I can't say the same_, Lucas thought as he took his clothes into one of the stalls to change. 


	5. Opening Night

Chapter Five

  
  
Lucas took the position on the stage to the left of Rex while Phillip stood on the right-hand side of the stage. The lights remained dimly lit and muffled silence hung in the air for only a few moments, barely giving Lucas the chance to find his composure. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this nervous about something. While the lights were still dim, he tugged at his pants with mild discomfort. He definitely wasn't used to wearing pants like these ones. They appeared to be really tight but they were actually stretchy and held together only by velcro, so they would be easy to rip off without totally destroying. Of course, he had no intention of taking off his pants for this first round of strip-dancing. Bonnie had already warned all of the men working that night that they would be going up on stage multiple times that night, so he would start undressing once he got more comfortable with the whole stripping thing.   
  
Light suddenly illuminated Rex, Phillip's and his own positions on stage and pulsating music filled the room. The words of the song were lost on Lucas' ears as he slowly began to move on the stage, it was nothing more than a blurred mass of throbbing noises. He put his hands on his hips and slowly grinded his hips around in a full circle, taking in his audience at the same time. There were chairs set up right along the edges of the stage for women who wanted to get up close and personal with the strippers and every one of those chairs was filled. As he moved his hips in time to the music, his eyes took in every woman sitting in the chairs on his side of the stage until his eyes finally froze on one woman in particular.   
  
Nicole Kiriakis's eyes were wide with shock and disbelief as she watched Lucas. Two woman sat on either side of her, one in a black mini-dress and the other in a hot pink top, both of which were waving money in the air for Lucas to come and take. Lucas slid his hand down his side and began to dance in Nicole's direction. He continued to watch Nicole, who had finally seemed to get over her shock. She gave him a dark look and shook her head almost imperceptibly, warning him to stay away from her. Lucas shot Nicole a taunting smile and ran his hands down his body again before crouching down to the stage floor and crawling over to the edge of the stage. His eyes sparking with laughter, he gave Nicole another grin before taking the money out of the first woman's hand with his teeth. That was when he realized that he was actually _enjoying_ this. The dancing part was exhilarating and he loved the way the woman in the club were screaming at him to 'take it off'. And on top of that, he could to piss off his profligate ex-wife. He watched Nicole cross her legs in her seat and glare up at him. _Yeah, I could definitely get used to this. _

* * *

Kate stepped out of the bathroom and noticed John standing off the side of the club's entrance, wiping his forehead with a small rag. Kate frowned and walked over to meet John.   
  
"John, I never expected to see you in a place like this," Kate remarked, a little embarrassed to be caught at a place like this but such a good friend of hers, "What are you doing here?"   
  
John cleared his throat, and adjusted the tie around his neck, "I was just checking up on Belle. I don't want her getting into any trouble but these places can get out of hand sometimes and that's a fact."   
  
"I see. Well, let's go find her then," Kate responded, moving back into the crowded mass of tables, women, smoke and music, "You know, I'm really glad I don't have to worry about this sort of things with my sons."   
  
John nodded, then looked on the stage and froze, "Are you sure about that, Kate?" he asked through clenched teeth, diverting his gaze from the half-naked men up on the stage.   
  
"Sure, I'm sure," Kate answered without pausing to think about it, "My boys wouldn't be caught dead in here. I mean they have no reason to want to-" Kate cut herself off in mid-sentence as her own eyes found their way up to the stage, "John, am I seeing things?" she asked him, her voice so low that John could barely make out what she was saying thanks to the loud music.   
  
"I don't think so," John replied, letting the woman lean on him for support. Her eyes fluttered shut and her body went limp and for a moment, John thought she had fainted. Then Kate sprang to life.   
  
"_Oh my Gawd_!" she shrieked, causing a large number of people to turn around and look at her. Kate ripped at John's jacket, "Those boys are very bad and I must punish them." she was gritting out furiously, "But first, I have to get some clothes on them. What they're doing is _dreadful_." Kate managed to pull John's outer jacket and suit jacket off him and began storming towards the stage. She pushed past the other audience members with John hot on her heels. Once she reached the stage, she turned back around to John.   
  
"Give me a leg up," She ordered him. Sensing his hesitation, she tightened her lips and then let out a shrill cry of, "John, _please_!"   
  
John relented and helped the frenzied woman onto the stage. Once Kate was standing on the stage, she turned around to look at her sons, trying to decide which one to cover first. There was Lucas, who was crawling along the stage and taking dollar bills from woman in his mouth and then stuffing them down his pants. Then there was Rex, who was gyrating against the pole in the center of the stage and Phillip, who was doing something that could only be described as 'humping the air'. Lucas was completely ignoring her while Rex seemed annoyed with her, his features darkening into a scowl and he moved against the metal pole. Phillip seemed almost amused, a faint smile on his face as he danced and the smile only widened when people began to boo his mother.   
  
Kate felt her face heat up with mortification as the booing sounds filled her ears. She, Katherine Elizabeth Roberts, was actually being _booed_. The nerve of these ridiculous women.   
  
"Get off the stage, ya old hag!" A woman seated at one the tables called viciously.   
  
"Yeah, granny, no one wants you around!" A startlingly familiar voice added and Kate turned to see the woman who had been dancing with John at the Blue Note sitting near the edge of the stage, way too close to Lucas for Kate's liking. After inwardly debating whether to cover up her pole humping son or air humping son for a little while longer, she decided she would cover up Rex first, since he was closer. She went right over to him and draped John's jacket over his shoulders. Rex glowered at her and pulled off the jacket.   
  
"Mom, stop it!" he hissed, then smiled out at the crowd and tossed the jacket over to a table filled with woman. John turned to the women who were now practically molesting his jacket with a pained look. And it was such a nice jacket too, he thought to himself sadly. But by this time, Kate had already rushed over to Phillip and had helped him into John's suit jacket.   
  
"Here you go, honey," Kate said, fumbling over the buttons, "You just cover yourself up really good, okay?"   
  
"Thanks, lady!" Phillip yelled over the music, then danced away from Kate. _Lady?_ Kate repeated to herself in horror, _How dare he talk to me like that? I'm just trying to do what's best for him._ Then Kate watched as Phillip pulled the jacket lapels apart, ripping the few buttons Kate had done up and spinning around. He then turned his back to the audience and let the suit jacket drop down his back and shook his entire body for the crowd's benefit. The crowd was now alternating between cheering for the three men and trying to boo Kate off stage. Two uniformed men were on the stage now and were making their way towards Kate. Kate scurried out the men's reach and headed over to Lucas, who was back on his feet and doing dance moves that were even more provocative that the ones Rex and Phillip had been doing. _I think I'm going to be sick_, Kate thought as she watched Lucas tug his pants down a little bit so the thin strap of what was undoubtedly a g-string was visible. Everyone in his corner was cheering until Kate's hands latched onto his shoulders.   
  
"Lucas, get off this stage right now. Go put some clothes on!" she screeched while several woman got to their feet in protest.   
  
"Lay off, bitch!" one of the women sitting next to Nicole yelled. She reached down underneath her and came back up with a chunky, black sandal.   
  
"My shoe!" Nicole cried, watching as it sailed through the air before hitting Kate squarely in the side of her head, knocking Kate unconscious. Satisfied with herself, the woman sat back down, too busy gloating to notice Phillip, Rex and Lucas all watching her with entertained looks on their faces.

* * *

The song ended and Rex gave Nicole her shoe back before he left the stage with his two brothers. Nicole thanked him, then turned to Jan.   
  
"Why did you throw my shoe?" Nicole demanded in a hostile voice.   
  
"Because I didn't want to throw my shoe." Jan answered easily, "I like my shoe and it would be a waste to throw it at a crazy woman like that. Besides, mine are kinda hard to get off."   
  
Nicole's irritated frown morphed into a smile when she realized how hilarious the situation really was, "I still can't believe Kate went up there and did that. And I can't believe that Lucas and Phillip and Rex are all strippers. I wonder how Sami's taking it. Knowing her, she's probably freaking out right now." Nicole stood and surveyed the women in the club, trying to catch sight of Sami. After a few moments, she shook her head with disappointment, "She must not be here."   
  
"Who's Sami?" Crystal asked.   
  
"She's the mother of Lucas' child. I bet she'd be really ticked off if she saw him up there." Nicole was silent for a moment, then spoke again with determination, "Well, I want to see her face when she finally sees Lucas in stripping action. I'm going to go get her."   
  
With that, Nicole stood up and hurried out of the club, hoping she wouldn't have to miss too much stripping action while carrying out her plan.

* * *

Sami groaned under her breath when she heard the knocks sounding off her door. She said a quick prayer that it wasn't Belle again and flung the door open. It wasn't Belle but that definitely wasn't an improvement. Standing in front of her was none other than Nicole.   
  
"What do you want?" Sami muttered, looking at the floor.   
  
Nicole watched Sami through solemn eyes, "I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am about Lucas." she told Sami.   
  
Sami's head jerked up in surprise at the mention of Lucas' name, "What about Lucas? What's wrong with him?"   
  
"Oh, a lot of things," Nicole answered, "To start off with, I walked in on him in this changing room the other day and he was trying on lady's underwear-"   
  
"No way," Sami shot back.   
  
"It's true!" Nicole retorted before continuing, "And tonight I caught him, um, _dancing_, with Rex and Phillip. And I don't even want to go into what I mean by 'dancing' because it was so horrible. I don't know if I'll ever recover from seeing that."   
  
"You are such a liar!" Sami exploded, "How can you say all these about Lucas? He wouldn't 'dance' with other men, let alone his brothers."   
  
_Good, she's taking it exactly the way I wanted her to take it_, Nicole thought, "Well, I can't say I blame him. All the woman in this town, with the exception of me, are insane. Your mother was even a demon-possessed serial killer. What's a poor guy to do?"   
  
"Where is he?" Sami demanded, "I won't believe it unless I see it."   
  
"I can show you exactly where he is and I will prove to you that I'm telling the truth." Nicole assured her, then eyed Sami's pajamas with distaste, "But you should probably change first."   
  
Sami stepped further back inside her apartment, looking a little bit dazed by Nicole's news, "I'll do that. And I'll be quick too," she added, giving Nicole a sharp look, "Because the sooner we find him, the sooner I can prove that you're nothing but a lying tramp! Dancing with his brothers, my ass!" 


	6. Naughty Lucas

Chapter Six

  
  
Sami squirmed in her seat in Nicole's car, fussing over the thin straps of her dress to keep herself somewhat preoccupied. She had simply thrown on a white sun dress, ran a brush through her hair and applied a subtle amount of make-up before leaving her apartment. After briefly checking her appearance in the review mirror of Nicole's car, Sami had decided that for the short amount of time she had spent getting herself ready, she looked decent. _As decent as anyone can look when they're about to go witness the man they love 'dancing' with his brothers_, she thought, slumping low in the seat of the car. Neither she or Nicole spoke until Nicole turned into a parking lot. Sami looked up to see the neon pink 'Unzipped' sign blinking from on top of the large building and she glared at Nicole.   
  
"Is this some kind of stupid joke?" Sami seethed, "I already told Belle I didn't want to be here earlier tonight. Why do you all have to gang up on me and bring me to this place against my will? I'm not going in. I'll walk home if I have to."   
  
"Sami, can you calm down?" Nicole turned off the car and put one hand on the door handle, still facing Sami, "You have to come in. This is where Lucas is 'dancing' with his brothers."   
  
Sami's mouth dropped open when she realized what Nicole had really been alluding to all along, "A stripper? Lucas a stripper? Please, like that would ever happen. He's probably at his apartment right now, just like I should be at my apartment. I can't believe I ever listened to you. There is no way in hell that Lucas is inside that club, taking off his clothes for money. That's not the kind of guy he is."   
  
"If that's what you think, then you've seriously overestimated him," Nicole's nose wrinkled slightly, "Or would that be underestimated? Anyways, just come inside for a while and I'll prove that Lucas is there. What harm could it do?"   
  
"Nothing I guess, unless you count the fact that it's going to waste my precious time." Sami grumbled, stepping out of the car and slamming the door shut behind her, "Let's get this over with. The sooner I can prove that you're lying through your teeth about Lucas, the better."   
  
Nicole shrugged, not looking even the slightest bit worried, which made Sami feel a rush of insecurity about her convictions. Was Lucas actually inside the club? Had he actually decided to become a stripper?   
  
Her eyes moved up to look at the stage as soon as she and Nicole were inside. Sami could tell right away that the tall, dark haired-man dancing on the stage clad in nothing but a silver G-string was not Lucas and let out a small sigh of relief. Nicole led Sami closer to the stage until they reached a strip of chairs along the left side of the stage. Two women scooted over to make room for Sami and Nicole. Once Sami and Nicole were seated, a woman in a black dress looked past Nicole to look at Sami. Her eyes took in Sami's outfit with distaste and Sami suddenly felt very out of place. In comparison to all the other woman, she looked so... innocent. _That's what you get for choosing to wear white when you didn't know where you were going, Sami scolded herself, You should have worn a more neutral colour. Like red. _  
  
"So, you're Sami," the woman leaned across Nicole to extend her hand, "I'm Crystal."   
  
"It's nice to meet you," Sami replied with forced politeness, then looked up at the stage. The man seemed vaguely familiar and it took her a moment to place him as the man she had seen with Jennifer on the opening night of Alice's Bar. But it had only taken her so long to figure it out because seeing him decked out in a cowboy outfit was definitely a lot different than seeing him in this state of undress. Unable to stop herself, Sami's eyes moved down the long, hard lines of his torso and sneaked a quick glimpse of the g-string, which left little, if anything to the imagination. After checking the man out briefly, Sami turned back to overhear what Crystal was saying to Nicole.   
  
"You missed this really cute guy, Nicole." Crystal was saying, "I think they said his name was Tyler or something."   
  
"Who's the guy up there right now?" Sami jumped in curiously. Crystal beamed up at the stage.   
  
"His name's Patrick. Isn't he great?"   
  
"Sure," Sami replied just before the song ended and Patrick walked off the stage with a parting smile. Sami held her breath and waited for the next stripper to emerge. She exhaled loudly, both with relief and surprise when she saw that the stripper was Phillip. Sami heard the woman on the other side of Crystal let out a disappointed sigh when she saw Phillip.   
  
"He's by himself this time," the woman complained, "Last time he was with those other two hot guys. What happened to them?"   
  
Nicole turned to give Sami an explanation, "Last round, Phillip, Lucas and Rex all went up there together."   
  
Sami's eyes widened and she scowled at Nicole, "So, that's what you meant by dancing. How could you make me think-"   
  
"Hold it, Sami," Nicole cut her off, "All I said was that they were dancing. You were the one that got it into your head I was talking... horizontal instead of vertical."   
  
"You made it sound like that," Sami shot back, "Besides, it's not like you did anything to correct my thinking either."   
  
"Eh, it was too funny seeing you flip out over the idea of Phillip, Rex and Lucas enjoying each other in ways brothers should not enjoy each other." Nicole fell silent when Phillip came over to take the dollar bill that the nameless blonde woman had held out to him. The woman gave him a big smile and he smiled back but the smile faded when his eyes came to rest on Sami. He looked shocked for a moment, then danced his way back to center stage. Sami took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. _It doesn't mean anything_, she tried to tell herself, _Just because Phillip is here doesn't mean that Lucas is working as a stripper too. It's no big deal._   
  
As if reading her thoughts, Nicole whispered, "If Phillip's up right now, I bet that Lucas or Rex is going to be up next."   
  
"Shut up," Sami muttered, looking down at the floor. She remained silent for the few minutes after Phillip's song had ended and when the next stripper came onto the stage, she found that the lump in her throat made it impossible for her to speak, even if she wanted to.   
  
"I told you so," Nicole mocked Sami but Sami didn't even bother trying to respond. Her eyes stayed locked on Lucas. As soon as he had come out on the stage, he had looked right at her, so obviously Phillip had already told him that she was there and where she was sitting. But his dark chocolate gaze stayed on her for a few minutes, lines of anxiety creasing his face. He certainly wasn't surprised to see her but he did look a little afraid. Sami sat stiffly on her chair, her expression detached, not making any movements that would reveal how she was feeling. After a few more seconds that stretched on for a longer than they should have, Lucas finally broke eye contact and a new song began to play.   
  
Sami released a leaden breath as she watched Lucas begin to rock his hips back and forth in time to the music. He writhed sensuously on the middle of the stage, causing more women to move closer. The then the lyrics of the bouncy, explicit song filled Sami's ears.   
  
_I wanna li-li-li lick you from your heads to your toes _  
  
As if he was using the song as a prop, Lucas brought one finger to his mouth and pumped it in and out several times in an explicit fashion, before trailing that finger down his bare chest, while Sami continued to watch with rapt attention.   
  
_And I wanna move from the bed, down to the, down to the floor   
I wanna ah-ah, you make it so good I don't wanna leave   
But I gotta kn-kn-kn know, what's your fan-ta-sy? _  
  
Her breathing quickened when Lucas brought one hand up to tease his own nipple and a low moan could suddenly be heard despite the loud, throbbing music. Sami bit her lip, hoping that she hadn't been the one to moan out loud but it only took her a few seconds to realize that it had been Crystal.   
  
"Oh, I would do anything to fuck that." Crystal said in a breathy voice.   
  
"Don't listen to her, she says that about all of them." Nicole told Sami without taking her eyes off the stage.   
  
"I don't care," Sami lied but in all honestly, she wanted to slap the stupid whore sitting next to Nicole senseless. She had no right to talk about Lucas like that. He wasn't hers, she shouldn't be thinking about him in any non-platonic ways. But her anger wasn't directed completely at Crystal either. It was also directed at Lucas. What the hell was he doing up there, parading around shirtless, exposing himself to hundreds of women? He might as well have been naked and Sami knew that naked was definitely a possibility in the near future of this dance.   
  
With another sinuous rotation of his hips, Lucas turned his head back to the left side of the club and his eyes came to rest on Sami again. He lowered his chin once their eyes met and he looked at her through dark lashes, his tongue curling out to wet his lips, baiting her. The suggestive actions made Sami aware of the way her nipples had tightened painfully, along with the corresponding ache between her thighs. She crossed and uncrossed her thighs and squeezed her legs together tightly, willing the ache to stop. But it was a lost cause and she felt herself getting wetter as Lucas' hands brushed their way down his chest and stomach until he reached the waistband of the tight, black pants. Sami closed her eyes for a split second, silently willing Lucas to keep the pants on. She knew if those went, she would get even hornier and that was a very bad thing. It was already killing her to watch his explicit dancing while he wearing the pants and if the pants weren't on, she'd end up wet enough to flood the entire club.   
  
When she opened her eyes again, Lucas' hands were still lingering on the top of the pants while more and more women began screaming for him to pull the pants off. _Shut the fuck up_, Sami directed her frustrated thoughts at the screaming women, _You're all so stupid, you don't deserve to see him with no pants on. _  
  
His eyes sparked in the shimmering lights with some untold challenge as he looked at Sami and abruptly, he ripped the pants from his body. He flung the pants near the back of the stage and Sami's eyes couldn't stop themselves from moving down to the tiny, revealing red g-string. The small scrap of material hinted and what was underneath it in a big way and Sami knew from personal experience, if he _did_ end up taking it off too, no one would be disappointed. It took all of her willpower but finally Sami pulled away to look at the other patrons in the club. All of the women's eyes were on Lucas, most of them screaming and cheering while other just sat, looking completely captivated. She could see the lust in their eyes as they watched him and she hated it.   
  
Once again, a wave of resentment towards Lucas washed over her. He shouldn't be doing this. It was sickening, watching him putting himself on display for all these faceless, nameless women. And yet, she was probably more riveted by his promiscuous dancing than any of the rest of them. He was certainly getting her worked up but it wasn't totally anger. A good percentage of her worked up state had a lot to do with the pulsations coming from the lower regions of her body.   
  
A mournful whimper welled up in her throat as Lucas moved around the pole expertly, his hand fisting the cylindrical metal. He ground his body up against the pole, sliding slowly along the metal. He pressed his almost completely naked body against the pole a little bit more and moved up and down it, his smooth, hairless chest slipping and sliding effortlessly.   
  
"Do you think they'd let me be a stand in for that pole? It gets even more action than I do." Crystal commented, never taking her eyes off Lucas.   
  
The screams became even louder and all over the club women were waving dollar bills frantically. Lucas finally diverted his attention from the pole and went around the room collecting the money, flashing the women big grins at the same time. Sami watched him from behind, her eyes focused on his tight, muscular ass that the g-string did nothing to conceal._ God, he has such a hot ass_, Sami thought, then realized what she had just said to herself, _Of course, he needs someone to spank that ass after he's decided to show it to the entire female population of Salem. And I might just have to be the one to do it_, Sami thought, gritting her teeth as she made a promise to herself to pay Lucas a little visit after he and the other strippers had finished for the night. 


	7. Lucas Gets Punished

Chapter Seven

  
  
**Author's Note: Sorry I took so long to update. I meant to post this sooner but some family stuff came up and I couldn't. This chapter contains spanking, just to let you know so if that offends you, you probably shouldn't read this chapter ;).**  
  
After several more hours, it looked like Bonnie was getting ready to wrap things up. It appeared to Jan that Lucas was doing the last dance of the night, since Jan had already seen a couple of the strippers leave together. Jan snuck another quick look at Sami and frowned. She had never seen such a dynamic combination of jealous and horny on someone's face before seeing Sami tonight. Every time Lucas came out to perform a new dance, Sami had looked like she didn't know whether to be happy or even more irritated. Not that she had any reason to be irritated. Lucas was one damn fine stripper.   
  
Jan leaned over to talk to Nicole, "What do you think I would have to do to get these strippers to come home with me willingly? I could quickly make an impromptu cage far away from Shawn's cage and then we could-"   
  
Nicole snorted and looked up at the stage, "You're not seriously thinking about getting all those strippers to go home with you, are you? I think there would be a huge price to pay if you went after Lucas. Sami would sneak into your bedroom and set your hair on fire in a jealous rage or something."   
  
"Yikes," Jan looked at Sami, who was grinding her teeth together and staring up at Lucas with a furious look in her eyes, "And I thought I was the only one who had the potential to do something crazy like that. I've always wanted to set someone's hair on fire."   
  
"Remind me to keep all matches and flammable objects away from you from now on," Nicole glanced up at the stage before continuing, "But seriously, if you mess with Lucas, I think it's kind of obvious that Sami's going to make you pay."   
  
"She's probably right about that," a voice filled with amusement spoke from behind them, "But _I'm_ free. Do whatever you want to me, just keep it legal."   
  
"Well, I can't make you any promises-" Jan began as she turned around, immediately drawn to the warm voice. But she stopped short when she saw who was standing behind her, "Phillip!"   
  
"That's right," Phillip didn't seem to understand how she knew his name and his forehead crinkled slightly in confusion, "And you're the one that threw the shoe at my mom, right?"   
  
Jan nodded silently, a faint blush working it's way into her cheeks. She couldn't believe she hadn't recognized him from up on stage. Seeing his mom trying to cover up with that jacket should have given her a clue but no, she had been too distracted by the amount of hot, almost naked dancing men to put two and two together. _He got hot_, Jan realized, taking in the close-up view she was getting of his hard, muscular chest. Sure, she had seen Phillip a few times when he was with Belle but she hadn't really paid very much attention to him. And now he that he was standing in front of her, still in his stripping outfit, she realized that she had been overlooking a lot by ignoring him. _Well, I certainly won't be ignoring him anymore, Jan told herself, Maybe I should just camp out at this strip club. Yeah, that's a good plan. _  
  
"Well, you obviously already know my name but I don't know yours," Phillip gave her an expectant smile and Jan fumbled for the right words while still eyeing Phillip's chest. She couldn't seem to pull her eyes away from the thin arrow of hair that disappeared into his pants. She had always thought of herself as being partial to men with hairless chests but Phillip pulled off having chest hair very well. So well it was making her throat dry and her eyes burn.   
  
"I'm Ja- I'm Jane." Jan quickly corrected herself, barely able to resist wincing at the scratchy sound of her voice, "It's nice to meet you."   
  
Nicole eyed her step-son disdainfully, "What are you doing down here, Phillip? Don't you have something else to do?"   
  
Without making eye contact with the blonde woman, Phillip replied, "The club's closing pretty soon so no, I don't. I wanted to come down here and talk to the woman who hit my mom with the shoe. I guess it's because you kind of looked familiar, Jane. I think I may have seen you somewhere before. Do you have any idea where we might have met before?"   
  
"No," Jan squeaked, dropping her gaze to the floor, "I'm sure I've never seen you before. You must be thinking of someone else."   
  
Phillip stared hard at Jan, sizing her up with shrewd blue eyes, "Wait a minute. Is that a _wig_?" he had seen the woman's hair shift when she had moved her head and for some reason, he just didn't think the dark blonde colour suited Jane. On impulse, he gave her hair a small tug and watched the blonde wig slide down one side of Jane's face, revealing dark brown curls. His mouth dropped open when he realized who the woman was.   
  
"It's you," Jan felt disappointment slice through her at the flat, horrified tone he used, "Why the hell did you back to Salem? What are you up to now, Jan Spears? Whoever you're _targeting_, whoever you're trying to make a fool out of, it won't work. I wont' let you do it."   
  
"Well, it's certainly not you. You do a good enough job of making a fool out of yourself already." Jan snapped, watching his face contort with rage, "Oh, don't get your g-string in a knot. I have some very good reasons for coming back, ones that are not hurtful in any way. I'm past that stage in my life, I've grown up a lot."   
  
"Really?" Phillip's voice betrayed every ounce of disbelief he felt, "Then let's go for a walk. You can tell me all about your 'plans' now that you're back in Salem."   
  
"But your job-" Jan protested weakly.   
  
"My job is done for the night." Phillip informed her, taking hold of her arm and pulling her out of the seat, "Come on, let's go."

* * *

Sami stood outside the back room of Unzipped, growing more impatient with every minute that went by. She had already watched all the other strippers leave one by one but Lucas had yet to come out of the back room. Even Rex had went off with Mimi about five minutes ago and she hadn't seen Phillip at all after he had left the club with some random blonde woman who had been sitting near Nicole. Sami was getting really sick of waiting for Lucas, in fact, she was tempted to shove the door open and go inside.   
  
Then the door swung open again and Sami looked up hopefully. Her face fell when she saw that it was only Bonnie and Mickey. Sami cleared her throat and stepped out of the shadows.   
  
"Bonnie, is, um, is Lucas almost finished in there?" Sami asked, straining to keep her voice neutral, "I needed to talk to him about something."   
  
Bonnie didn't seem even the tiniest bit surprised to see Sami standing outside the door to the dressing room waiting for Lucas, "Sure, he's almost finished. He was the last one to go up and dance, so he had a little less time to get dressed than everyone else. But you can go in there right now, he's fully dressed and everything." Bonnie added casually, "You two are going to be the last ones here, so I asked Lucas to lock up for me tonight."   
  
With a wide, fake smile, Sami nodded with feigned enthusiasm, "Well, I guess I'll go do that then. Thank you so much." Bonnie nodded and walked off with Mickey and Sami scowled at the back of Bonnie's head. Bonnie was _supposed_ to be on her side but no, if she was going to hire Lucas as a stripper and try to get him to dance naked in front of incredibly hormonal women, then Bonnie Lockhart was officially her enemy.   
  
Sami yanked open the door and stalked inside the room, her eyes doing a quick scan to see where Lucas was. When she finally saw him, she mentally called Bonnie the most horrible names she could think of when she saw Lucas was only wearing a navy blue towel. What a lying, manipulative bitch Bonnie was!   
  
The sight of Lucas wearing that towel shouldn't have fazed Sami at all, since she had seen him in so much less earlier that night but for some reason, it made her resolve to scream at him crumble just the tiniest bit. It really was hard to tell someone off when they looked so good that all you wanted to do was slide your hands along their skin and feel them. But Sami had had practice with Lucas, she had practice doing her best to steel herself against Lucas when he was shirtless, which was a large percentage of the time. She could do this.   
  
She marched across the room purposefully and once she was about ten feet away from him, Lucas turned away from the clothes rack he had been standing in front of to face her.   
  
"What do you want?" he asked in a dull voice, while his eyes cut into her sharply, still holding anger and hurt that had lasted over a month.   
  
"You know exactly what I want," Sami shot back, her voice low and barely in control. Images of Lucas dancing on the stage surfaced in her head. She saw him looking right at her as he tore off his pants. She saw him pressing against the pole in the center of the stage while every women in the club watched him. She could still hear the women screaming at him to take off his clothes. Then there was Crystal's voice.   
  
_"I would do anything to fuck that."_   
  
They all wanted to fuck him now, every single women that had seen him dancing. She hated them all for it and she hated that Lucas had been the one to put those thoughts into their heads. He had done it to get back at her for hurting him, she was sure of it. He wanted to get back at her by flaunting his body in front of everyone, in front of her, trying to make her see what she was missing out on. Of all the spiteful, stupid things he had done, this had to be one of the worst.   
  
"Why are you working here?" Sami demanded angrily after staying silent for a few moments.   
  
"None of your business," Lucas replied coldly and Sami could tell that the tone she had used with him had already made him defensive, "I can do whatever I want in my free time. You don't have any say in it, so why are you even here?"   
  
"To inform you that you're being totally ridiculous," Sami shot back, "There's tons of other jobs you could be doing. Why would you take one in a whorehouse? Are you trying to follow in your mother's footsteps or something?"   
  
"Don't, Sami," Lucas glared at her, "It's two completely different things and besides, I'm not going to let you trash my mom. This is not whorehouse. I mean, your brother's working here too or did you not notice that."   
  
"He gets it from you," Sami replied crossly, "And I always believed you had more class than Rex. But I guess I was wrong. You're letting yourself be thought of as a man-whore and it's going to stop. You're going to quit the job, Lucas."   
  
"No, Sami, I'm not. What part of you 'it's none of your business' aren't you getting?"   
  
"It is my business," Sami insisted, her face heating up, "You are the father of my son and I don't want my son thinking it's okay to go around taking off all his clothes in front of crowds of people. You have Will to think about. Stop being so selfish."   
  
"I'm not selfish, you're selfish," Lucas retorted, "You're the one who cheated on me and lied and made me feel like I didn't even matter to you. And you know what? I probably didn't. Because the only person that matters to you is you."   
  
"That's not true." Sami was hurt by his words but tried to let her anger come into play more than that hurt, "You're a total idiot for thinking I cheated on you. I was just talking to the guy and I wanted to learn about his work and things, so I was being friendly. You were acting like a possessive asshole."   
  
Lucas dropped his shoulders and shook his head, "You know, maybe I did overreact. But that wasn't the thing that made me break-up with you. It was what you said. It was the way you said that all we did was sleep together. Like you didn't really want anything else from me."   
  
Sami's eyes widened at his words, amazed at how quickly the look on his face changed from angry to hurt. She didn't know how she was supposed to reply to that. She had went from wanting to slap him to wanting to hug him in mere seconds and she didn't know how to take that. She searched desperately for some kind of response but luckily, she didn't have to find one.   
  
Replacing the hurt look, a taunting look quickly fell across Lucas' face, "Not that it really matters anymore. We've both made a decision to move past that part of our lives. Or at least, I have. I bet it really bites your ass that you can't get over it."   
  
"No, it bites my ass that you think I'm not over it when I am."   
  
Lucas smirked at her and leaned over so he was whispering in her ear, "You're here, aren't you? Obviously, you can't stay away."   
  
"Get over yourself. I'm only hear for my son's sake. You're not acting like a father figure to him and stripping is just plain wrong. God, I may complain about your mom a lot but I never thought she was such a horrible mother. Three out of four of her sons are sluts now. I know she didn't raise Rex but I kind of think it's genetic. Stripping is just so self-degrading and dirty and sick and someone needs to like, _spank_ this out of your system or something." Sami blurted out, unable to stop herself after she started ranting. She bit her lip after uttering that last sentence and waited for Lucas' reaction.   
  
Lucas' mouth twitched and it looked like he was trying hard not to smile, "Someone needs to spank it out of me, huh? Well, as far as I know, you're the only one here. I can't guarantee that you'll succeed in 'spanking it of my system' but you can certainly try."   
  
"Lucas, I didn't mean..." Sami's voice trailed off and she watched Lucas turn around and let the towel drop to the ground. He bent over slightly, holding on to the rail above the clothes rack with both hands, then turned around to look at Sami, who had been rendered speechless.   
  
"Come on, Sami," he mocked her, glad that he still knew how to shock her into silence, "I've been _such_ a bad boy. Letting all those girls see me in that little g-string. I've been so very bad, haven't I? I should never have went out there and let all those women see me. Oh, I need to be punished so badly. You have to make sure I learn my lesson. Don't you want to teach me a lesson?"   
  
"Stop messing with my head, you bastard." Sami stepped away from him, not taking her eyes off the perfect, muscular ass he had displayed to her. Up close and without the g-string, it looked ever better. His tan line ended at the very edge of his lower back, so his butt was a shade lighter than the rest of his skin, but still a nice tan colour. And it was firm in all the right places. _I wonder if he's ever used one of those 'Buns of Steel' workout videotapes before_, Sami thought as she dug her nails into her palm, "You don't really want me to spank you. You're trying to get me so embarrassed that I walk out of here and it's not happening until we finish our conversation."   
  
"You're wrong," Lucas told her, inwardly annoyed that she could figure him out so easily. He had thought his plan to get rid of her would work but obviously she was too smart for him. But he should have known that all along. And even though that she had figured out what he had been trying to do, there was no sense in giving up the charade. It was kind of fun to get a rise out of Sami after all the time they had spent avoiding each other, "I just feel like such a bad person. I need punishment. I was so naughty and inconsiderate, only thinking of myself. I should never have let everyone see me like that. But I want to do it again. That is so wrong, oh, Sami, you have make it stop!"   
  
Almost of it's own free will, Sami's hand smacked down hard and Lucas started when she made contact with his skin, nearly hitting his head on the bar above the clothes rack. He turned around to see Sami raising her hand to smack him again, her face flushed with anger and that was when Lucas realized he had been misjudged her reaction. By begging her to spank him, he had backed her into a corner. And now she felt like something to prove and when Sami felt like she had something to prove, she made damn sure she proved it.   
  
"If you want to be punished, I'll do it. Gladly." she seethed, her teeth staying locked together as she brought her hand down a second time. The second slap was a little harder than the first time but he had been expecting it, so he was able to brace himself for it better. The slapping sound echoed through the almost empty dressing room and Lucas felt a moan rising in his throat. A familiar throbbing began in his groin, a throbbing that seemed unavoidable when he spent time with Sami. Crap, she was spanking him and it was getting him horny. He had heard stories about how spankings could get people hot but he had never believed that he would ever be one of those people. But it had been so long since Sami had touched him, maybe he was just taking whatever he could get. Or maybe there really was something sexy about spankings he had missed all these years.   
  
The second slap followed five more in rapid succession. Then five more. Then Lucas started moaning and Sami lost count. Her face reddened when she realized her punishment was having the opposite effect on Lucas than the one she desired. She couldn't believe this was actually turning him on. He had to be insane. Then again, that made her insane too because she enjoying this a lot more than she should have. She couldn't seem to stop herself, she kept bringing her hand down to smack his ass until it was hot to touch and turned a faint red colour. She couldn't believe her conversation with Lucas had taken such a drastic turn. Sure, she might have thought about spanking him and mentioned it but she had never thought she would wind up doing it. But now that she had started, it was impossible to quit. So instead of trying, she brought her hand down to smack him again.

* * *

Kate groaned a little and opened her eyes to see John staring down at her with concern darkening his eyes. John let out a little sigh of relief when he noticed that Kate had opened her eyes.   
  
"Good, you finally came to," he chuckled wryly as he let her off of the chair she had been sitting in, "Who knew a shoe could keep someone unconscious for so long?"   
  
Kate groaned again and pressed her fingers against her pounding temples, "Where am I?" she asked in a groggy voice.   
  
"We're still at Unzipped." John looked around the little storage room, "Bonnie said we could stay back here until you woke up. I think everyone's already gone though."   
  
"Oh, no, you mean my sons went up there and got naked and I couldn't stop them?" Kate wailed.   
  
"I'm sorry, Kate," John led her out of the room, "Maybe we should just get going."   
  
The two of them left the small room and stepped out into the darkened room outside. They began making their way towards the exit to the club when John stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at a door.   
  
"I think there's still some other people here," John whispered before falling silent so he could hear what was going on behind the door. After a minute, he turned his attention back to Kate.   
  
"It sounds like someone's beating someone up in there," John informed her, "And one of them is making noises like they're in pain... and for some reason, the voice is so familiar..." Kate noticed his brow furrowing as he went deep into thought and Kate didn't understand why he didn't just open the door to see who was inside.   
  
"Come on, John, we have to make sure everyone's okay in there," Kate told him and stepped by him so she could fling open the door. 


	8. Uncontrolled

Chapter Eight

  
  
**Author's Note: The spanking is over. But it's still pretty dirty. Just to let you know ;). Thanks to everyone for their reviews.**  
  
Once Kate was inside what looked like the dressing room of Unzipped, the only person she could see was Sami. Sami's back was to John and Kate, so she hadn't seen the two intruders yet. She seemed pretty distracted, actually, Kate noticed, trying to look around Sami to see who the other person was. Unable to see the second person, Kate watched Sami bring her hand down to slap the person over and over.   
  
John shook his head with disappointment, "Sami's temper is getting the best of her again," he commented sadly, beginning to hurry towards Sami, "I hope the person she's hitting isn't hurt too badly."   
  
Kate began to follow John across the room to Sami when the second person made a loud noise that filled the room. Kate stiffened when she realized who the second person was and a shriek escaped her lips before she could stop herself.   
  
"Sami! What in God's name are you doing to my son?" Kate screeched, causing Sami to stop in mid-slap and Lucas to jump so high, his head made contact with the bar above him.   
  
"Mom?" instead of sounding relieved that his mother had come to save him from Sami, he sounded both disgusted and annoyed, "Why are you still here? I thought Bonnie had said I was the last one."   
  
"Well, she must have forgotten about me and John," Kate stopped glaring at Sami long enough to look at her son, who was now practically cowering inside the clothes rack, "Lucas, why are you hiding in there like that? Did she really hurt you? She completely traumatized you, didn't she? That's why you're hiding in there, right?"   
  
"No," Lucas argued, "I'm hiding in here because I don't have any clothes on at the moment."   
  
John's eyebrow shot up at this, "Well, after that revelation, I'm just going to have to conclude that we jumped to conclusions, Kate. Maybe Sami wasn't _really_ beating up Lucas, unless she decided to steal all his clothes first. Do either of you care to tell us what's going on here?"   
  
"No," Sami's face was redder than Kate had ever seen it before, "We don't have to tell you anything, just leave!"   
  
"My, Sami, aren't we getting defensive," Kate said in a screechy, taunting voice as she crossed her arms. Then it seemed to sink in what had been going on and Kate's face crumpled, "Oh my God! I can't believe this is happening! Lucas, I thought you broke up with the stupid trollop, why the hell would you let her touch, let alone _spank_ you?"   
  
John's eyebrow moved higher up his forehead, "Now I know we've come in at a bad time. Kate can we, uh, leave?" He shifted nervously, a look of absolute discomfort on his face. His cheeks were almost as red as Sami's and it looked like the only thing he wanted to do was run from the room as fast as possible.   
  
"Not until I set out some ground rules for Sami," Kate narrowed her dark eyes at the blonde woman, "You're going to stay away from my son. You're not going to touch him in any way. It isn't your place to spank him. If you ever touch him again, I'll... I'll-"   
  
"Why don't you stuff it, Kate? Lucas was asking for a spanking," Kate opened her mouth to protest but Sami quickly continued, "And I mean that literally. 'Oh, Sami, I've been so naughty, please punish me.'" Sami imitated Lucas.   
  
"She's telling the truth," Lucas, who had now completely disappeared into the clothes rack, added.   
  
"And he liked it too," Sami informed Kate, purposely trying to upset her more, "And once we get home, I'm going to use my paddle on him."   
  
"You whore!" Kate raged.   
  
John broke into a coughing fit, his face bordering on purple now, "It looks like our input isn't needed here. Come on, let's get out of here."   
  
He began pulling on Kate's arm and she screamed angrily, "No, John, I can't leave my poor son alone with her. She'll hurt him. She'll put her hands all over him like the slut she is and I can't let her do it. No, no, _no_! Stop pulling me away! I have to save Lucas! Noooooooo!" Kate howled mournfully before bursting into tears as John yanked her out of the dressing room and slammed the door shut behind him. After a few minutes, Kate's voice faded away completely.   
  
"Hurray, the Anti-Christ has left the building," Sami muttered, "You can come out now, Lucas."   
  
Lucas pushed all the clothes aside and came out wearing a fireman costume. He gave Sami a little smirk and grabbed the matching fireman's hat and put it on.   
  
"How do I look?" he asked stupidly, not knowing what else to say. There were a few things that he wanted to say but he knew they wouldn't go over well with Sami. Things like, 'Gee, I really enjoyed that spanking. I'd love it if you got even rougher with me next time.' or 'You better have been serious about that paddle'. Saying any of that certainly wouldn't sit too well with Sami. It was probably best that he didn't bring up what had happened before his mom and John had walked into the dressing room. It would probably just make Sami even more annoyed with him than she already was and then she'd _never_ spank him again.   
  
Sami glanced at the yellow fireman pants and red suspenders and shrugged, trying to look disinterested, "Don't give me that look, it's not going to work. I'm still mad at you."   
  
Lucas gave her a dirty look and adjusted the hat, "You have no right to be mad at me. My job is my business. It shouldn't upset you at all."   
  
"That's horseshit," Sami swore viciously, "You know you'd be so mad at me if I got a job as a stripper. You'd call me a bad mother, I know you would. Why should there be a double standard there?"   
  
The image of Sami stripping immediately overloaded Lucas' senses. He could see her dancing in center stage at Unzipped, her unblemished, silky skin glowing in the lights. He could see her removing her top so that her supple breasts spilled out, while every man in the room cheered her on. He gritted his teeth at the idea of anyone other than him seeing those luscious curves and hidden treasures. Sami stripping would definitely piss him off. But not wanting to let on that it would make him mad, he shook his head.   
  
"I wouldn't totally be opposed to seeing you stripping," he argued weakly but quickly rephrased the sentence when he realized what he had said, "I mean, I wouldn't try and stop you from doing it." _Provided I was the only one around_, he added inwardly, another scenario playing out in his mind. They were in her bedroom and she standing in front of him, wearing an incredibly short mini-dress and stiletto heels. She rocked her hips back and forth in time to the music with her back to him, the dress barely covering the soft, rounded curve of her ass. She turned around to face him and slid a thin, lacy thong down her legs and kicked it away. Her hands moved up the length of the dress, the dress material riding higher in the process. She pushed her hands through the blonde locks swirling around her shoulders and the dress moved up higher, giving Lucas a tempting view of the beginning of the blonde curls between her thighs.   
  
With an brazen smile, Sami took hold of the hem of the dress and began moving it up, until everything below her stomach was finally bared to him. She went even slower after that, as she lifted it higher, exposing the creamy swells of her breasts. She pulled the dress completely off and flung it to the side. She advanced on Lucas now, completely naked with the exception of the high heels. She walked around him stealthily with almost feline grace, her hands running over his shoulders and chest. Then she leaned in, her mouth forming the sexiest pout he had even seen and...   
  
"Lucas!" Sami's voice brought him back to the present and he looked at her aggravated, flushed face and knew it probably wasn't the first time she had tried to get his attention, "Are you even listening to me? God, you're so rude, I don't even know why I bother. You just keep acting so full of yourself and stupid and-"   
  
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Lucas growled, interrupting her ranting by enveloping her in his arms. He got one last glimpse of her baby blue eyes which were tainted with indignance and yes, lust, he could see it, before his lips were on hers. She had finally eaten away at the last of his control and now he pressed his hands into the small of her back, pressing her tightly against his chest. His mouth worked away all of her resistance, teasing the corners of her mouth with his lips and teeth until she arched willingly into him and a soft sigh escaped her lips when he finally pulled his lips off hers for a split second. Then he was kissing her again and now that she was willing, the kiss became more wild and unbridled. Using his arms to move them around so their positions were reversed, Lucas pressed Sami back against the clothes rack, his body covering hers and his tongue traced the seam of her soft, lush lips, silently asking for entrance.   
  
Sami moaned as she opened her mouth and lust hummed through her body as Lucas plunged his eager tongue inside, swirling around the hot opening. She quickly knocked his hat aside and it landed with a hard thud on the floor. She moved her hands through his hair but her hands quickly moved lower. She pushed the suspenders off his shoulders and ran her hands down his bare chest, exploring every inch of the skin that was still warm and moist from the shower. Lucas' tongue continued to mate with hers hungrily while his hands made slow, torturous work of lowering the straps of her sun dress. His mouth dropped to her throat and she breathed heavily as she clung to his shoulders.   
  
"You took the words right out of my mouth," she told him between ragged breaths, almost completely robbed of all oxygen when he began to tongue his way from one side of her collarbone to the other. Her hands tightened on him, sinking into the muscles of his shoulders while she pressed herself closer to him, savoring the firm smoothness of his chest and stomach pressed against her. Heat from his body seeped it's way into her flesh through the thin barrier of her dress. She tried desperately to hang on to her resolve to yell at him and willed herself to push him away from her but it seemed virtually impossible. His tongue left her collarbone and dipped into the beginning of the valley between the breasts and she bit her lip hard to keep from crying out. His hands caressed her through the dress' material, bunching and sliding the dress up her body until she was positively indecent.   
  
She stifled a gasp when his hot hand cupped her sex and stroked her wetness through her satin panties. It would probably be a good time to stop this insanity but it seemed like forever since he had touched her there, since he had touched her at all. She wanted him more than anything else and she didn't want to put a stop to anything until the need inside her was sated. No matter how angry she was with Lucas, she wanted him badly and that want was overcoming her fury for the time being.   
  
Lucas was still shocked at his own impulsive actions and couldn't believe that neither he or Sami had stopped this yet. He seemed unable to control himself around her right now. Of course, it kind of did make sense. How did that saying go, something about God giving men a brain and a penis but only enough blood to run one at a time? Well, after that naughty little fantasy about Sami giving him a private stripping show and that spanking, it was obvious which part of his anatomy was up and running at that moment. And from the feel of things, Sami was just as aroused as he was. He slipped his fingers underneath the panties and dipped one finger inside her. She was scalding hot and right away, her wet heat began soaking into his skin. And knowing that she was so turned on made him ever more excited. His evil, traitorous cock was so hard it was practically _jumping_. It was almost painful now. He hated his cock so much, it was always doing this to him at the worst times.   
  
Sami found that it was becoming increasingly hard to keep breathing as Lucas' finger probed deep inside her. When he added a second finger, it was almost hopeless. She felt herself getting dizzy as pleasure built up inside her, preparing to rip through her at any moment. She had lost control of everything and she hated it. She hated losing control with anyone, even though it happened often, especially with Lucas. She had thought she could do this, she had thought she could scream at him until finally convincing him to quit his job. But instead she had wound up spanking him and then doing this with him. She had to stop it before she lost anyone more control._ Okay, Sami, on the count of three, you'll pull away. 1. 2. 3. Wow, that was unsuccessful. _  
  
"Lucas, stop," she whispered, trying not to zone in on the way he was running his mouth along the slope of her shoulder or the way his fingers were stroking her expertly, working in tiny circles around her clit. Instead, she tried to think of all the women that had seen him in that g-string. All the women who might as well have seen him naked. And it was all Lucas' fault. He had let them see him that way, he didn't care about keeping those parts of himself intimate, she wasn't anything more to him that one of those skanky women in the crowd. Now _that_ was effective. Just thinking about that made her less turned on and more angry.   
  
"I said _stop_," this time, her voice was forceful and she managed to push him away unsteadily. He stumbled a little bit and looked up at her with lust-hazed, confused eyes.   
  
"I don't want you to touch me," she told him in a low, caustic voice, "Don't ever try and take advantage of me like that again. Go get one of those other women that watched you tonight, seduce them instead. You certainly have a great selection to choose from after showing them everything you did." she took a few seconds to smooth out her dress and hair as best she could before turning on her heel and stalking out of the dressing room. 


	9. Decisions

Chapter Nine

  
  
Jan hummed to herself as she brought Shawn's breakfast into his room. She was in a surprisingly good mood considering she had been up late last night and hadn't gotten much sleep. By the time she had arrived back at her country home, Shawn had been fast asleep. But he was awake now and looking up at her accusingly.   
  
"What were you doing last night?" he asked, struggling to make it sound like it didn't matter to him what she had been doing, "You didn't come back until after midnight. Don't tell me one of those strippers was actually stupid enough to be interested in you?"   
  
Jan giggled as she unlocked the cage, "To tell you the truth I had a great time last night. I was with Phillip. It turns out he was one of the strippers. I never realized how much more... attractive he is now until last night. That Marine training really buffed him up. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's a completely different person. Oh, except for the fact he still resented me for everything I did to him and the rest of you."   
  
"And did you really expect anything less from him?" Shawn asked, "I mean, come on, you wrecked his relationship with Chloe-"   
  
"I did not wreck it," Jan objected, "Because, like Belle, Chloe has no sense of loyalty. She would have ditched him for that moron, Brady Black, even if I hadn't done what I did to hurt Chloe. I guess all I really did was speed up the process of their breaking up."   
  
"And then you ruined my relationship with Belle," Shawn continued without regards to Jan's argument, "Both Belle and I were friends with him at that time. He's not going to let you off easy."   
  
"You've got it all wrong," Jan shot back, "No one forced you to lie and say you were the father of my baby. You did that all on your own so your break-up with Belle was no one's fault but your own."   
  
"You have a point there, Jan. But whose fault is _this_?" Shawn rattled the chains on his arms furiously.   
  
Jan let out a dramatic yawn, "Don't you have anything else to talk about? All you do is complain about how horrible it is being locked up in here when I know for a fact that I keep you very well entertained. If you would just give in and let me entertain you in more fun ways..." Jan's voice trailed off suggestively and she winked at Shawn.   
  
"Never," Shawn said coldly.   
  
Looking incredibly frustrated, Jan shrugged one shoulder, "Never say never, Shawnie. You'll change your mind if you stay here long enough. Anyways, let me finish my story. So, Phillip was kind of a jerk at first but I think I wore him down. I told him I was back in Salem to patch things up with you and Belle and everyone. I said that I had went through extensive therapy in Europe and that I realized what a terrible person I had been to hurt you all so badly. It took a while but after all that was said and done and I told him my parents had died, he finally seemed to warm up to me a little bit. We actually had a nice conversation. We had a lot of catching up to do, that's why I came in so late."   
  
Shawn shook his head, "I can't believe Phillip would buy into your lies. How could he?"   
  
"Don't take it so hard," Jan patted his shoulder, "I mean look at it this way: you fell for it too. But I'm really looking forward to seeing more of him." _Especially the parts of him I haven't seen yet_, Jan thought, recalling how Phillip had looked in that g-string when he was dancing on stage, "I think we could be friends. I could, you know, help him get Belle." _Not that she deserves a stripper that's so damn sexy_, Jan reminded herself resentfully.   
  
"Well, why don't you just lock him in this cage and let me go? I'm sure Phillip would really enjoy being chained up in here." Shawn grumbled.   
  
Jan pretended to consider it, "Nah, I don't like him that much. Besides, I don't think he'd be as easy to trap as you were because I think he's still a little suspicious of me. But he can be my back-up in case you die from whatever mind-altering, insanity-invoking disease Belle gave you. I'd be really upset if that happened though. I'd never forgive Belle for it, never."   
  
When Shawn didn't reply, Jan went on talking, "I'm going to go back to the club tonight. I had so much fun there yesterday, even though it's really sad when I enjoy spending time with Crystal and Nicole more than I do you. They're not always cranky with me like you are. And I think I'm going to have even more fun at the club tonight." _Especially if the strippers losing their g-strings completely is a possibility_. Jan thought with a little smirk, _I can only hope._

* * *

Sami woke up in a horrible mood the morning after her nightly visit to Unzipped. Attempting to sleep had done more harm that good after her run-in with Lucas. She had been so alert and restless after Lucas had invaded her senses that way he had, it had taken forever to get to sleep. And when she had slept, she had been plagued by mercilessly vivid dreams about Lucas. In a g-string. Dreams she would wake up from sweating and panting, dreams that made her kick every sheet and blanket off her bed in her sleep. And after waking from the dreams, she had the hardest time getting back to sleep. The dreams made her think about Lucas even more. All the things she wanted him to do to her, all the things she wanted to do to him... she almost regretted pushing Lucas away the night before because not getting to touch him was practically killing her.   
  
She couldn't remember the last time she had been so physically and emotionally drawn to anyone. She missed Lucas and the loneliness she had felt ever since they had broken up had only increased when she saw him up on that stage. She missed feeling him touch her, she missed being able to talk to him and know that he understood her better than anyone else would ever be able to. But it wouldn't work between them now that he had gotten the job at Unzipped. It would be too hard on her to be with him now that he was a stripper. Jealousy would eat her alive if she tried dating him while he was undressing in front of so many women. _Who are you kidding? It's going to be hard on you whether you're with him or not. And what makes you think he'll take you back after you cheated on him anyway? _  
  
But something told Sami that if she apologized and tried to get him to take her back, he would. And judging from the way he had pulled her into his arms and lost all his resolve to be angry at her last night, he would do it in a heartbeat. Obviously neither of them wanted to be separated. And if he did take her back, Sami might even be tempted to give up on trying to hurt Kate, just for the sake of her relationship with Lucas because that meant more to her than hating Kate ever would. But there was no way she would become involved with him again now that he had gotten such an awful job. She wasn't willing to put herself through that.   
  
She padded out of her bedroom and made her way towards the bathroom. Once inside, she quickly peeled off her sweat soaked clothing and stepped under a lukewarm spray of water, wanting to cool off after the torturously hot dreams she had just had. She sighed and closed her eyes, thinking about what had happened the night before. She had really been a bitch to him before leaving the club. Not that she had said anything he couldn't handle but she hadn't had to completely go rabid on him and accuse him of taking advantage of her. She had every opportunity to say no before things had gotten as far as they had but she hadn't tried to stop it. She hadn't wanted to stop it. And the idea of anyone else touching and being touched by Lucas the way she had the night before made her mad enough to kill someone, to be specific, whatever woman, imaginary or real, was touching Lucas.   
  
_And they won't_, Sami vowed, scrubbing harshly at her skin with a rag, _I'm going to make sure that none of those sleazy bar-hopping bitches touch him. Hey, I might not be involved with him but that doesn't mean that I'm going to let anyone else have a chance. I think I'm going to have to go back to that club after all. _

* * *

"So, Lucas," Phillip began casually as he, Rex and Lucas got ready to work another shift at Unzipped, "Mom came to see me and Rex earlier today. She was a wreck. From what she was saying, I expected to see you totally covered in welts and bruises."   
  
"Yeah, what's all this about Sami going dominatrix on you?" Rex asked curiously.   
  
Lucas groaned, "You guys should have known mom was exaggerating. She always exaggerates when it comes to Sami. It wasn't like that at all."   
  
"Then what happened?" Phillip pressed.   
  
Rex shuddered and backed away from his brothers, "Now I think about it, I don't want to hear this. I have to talk to Mimi about something," Rex said hastily, leaving Phillip and Lucas alone.   
  
Lucas rubbed his forehead wearily once Rex was gone, "I think Sami is the last person I want to talk about right now. Can we just drop it?"   
  
"Okay," Phillip answered agreeably but was only silent for a few minutes before brining it up again, "Was she really spanking you?"   
  
"Phillip!"   
  
"What?" Phillip held up his hands defensively, "It's a simple question. Can't you just give me a yes or a no?"   
  
"Fine, yes!" Lucas glowered at Phillip, "Can we drop it _now_?"   
  
"You're awfully touchy about the subject of Sami today," Phillip observed, "What happened between you two last night? Did she spank you too hard or something?"   
  
"It's not funny," Lucas growled in response, then decided to change the subject, "And what the hell is going on with you? What's all this I'm hearing about you leaving the club early with some strange girl?"   
  
"She wasn't a strange girl. Actually, she is pretty strange," Phillip corrected himself, "But what I mean is, she wasn't a stranger. I went to high school with her. She was a real bitch back then but she was surprisingly _nice_ when I talked to her. A little too nice for her though. Unless she really has changed her ways, she's up to something."   
  
Relieved to have the topic of conversation drift away from Sami, Lucas smirked at his brother, "I bet she just liked watching you strip. She probably just wants to get in your pants. Or should I say your g-string?"   
  
Phillip chuckled, "Nah, this is Jan Spears we're talking about. She's still completely hung up over Shawn, just like Belle. Jan might have denied being interested in him but she got this weird look in her eyes when I mentioned him. But she did say she regretted ruining his relationship with Belle and she apologized to me too. She sounded sincere enough but she's really good at lying so I don't know what to make of her right now. But she's probably be a lot more fun to spend time with than Belle at the moment. Belle keeps trying to convince me to go with her to buy Days of the week G-strings."   
  
"Maybe you should just go buy them," Lucas teased, "That would be really- oh, crap," His face reddened when he saw Sami step into the dressing room and suddenly the memory of her abrupt rejection was even more clear than it had been moments before. Damn. He did not want to face her right now. He hoped she wasn't back to yell at him more.   
  
She caught his eye and he could see her chest rise and fall as she inhaled deeply. She started towards him and Phillip turned around to see what Lucas was staring at. He whistled and looked back at Lucas.   
  
"This should be interesting," Phillip murmured but shut his mouth once Sami reached the two of them. Sami smiled faintly at Lucas and Phillip while wringing her hands nervously.   
  
"Hi, Lucas. Hi, Phillip," she started, watching Lucas tentatively.   
  
"Hey, Sami? What are you doing in here? Is it time for Lucas to get another spanking?" Phillip snickered, unable to resist trying to annoy her. Sami's mouth dropped open and she whirled around to look at Lucas.   
  
"My mom," Lucas explained shortly, then licked his lips nervously, "Was there something you needed?"   
  
"Yes," Sami answered, shooting a pointed look at Phillip, "But I can't talk about it with Phillip here."   
  
Phillip pretended to be hurt, "Fine, I can take a hint. Bye," with that, he walked off in Rex's direction.   
  
Sami let out a whoosh of air through her mouth, "I came to talk about last night." she stated, running her hand through her hair nervously.   
  
"We don't have to talk about it," Lucas protested, "It won't happen again."   
  
"I know it won't," Sami responded shortly, "I just realized that I couldn't let you take _complete_ responsibility. It was probably only ninety percent your fault. But I was ten percent in the wrong for not stopping you sooner. I really should have. It's not like I wanted you to kiss me."   
  
"Great, we're back to playing that game," Lucas narrowed his eyes at her, "I might have kissed you but I didn't make you kiss me back. Right?"   
  
"Right," Sami admitted bitterly.   
  
"That means you kissed me of your own free will. You kissed be back because you wanted to. You practically came in my arms because you wanted to." he added in a low, husky voice.   
  
"I didn't do that," Sami lied, hating the way he had stepped closer to her while speaking. Her vision blurred and all she could was stare at Lucas' mouth. _God, the last thing I need to do is have a repeat performance of what happened yesterday. Especially in front of all these other guys. I have to get out of here_, "But you're right, I did kiss you out of my own free will. It was a huge mistake though. I just thought I'd come tell you that I made a bigger deal out of what happened yesterday than I should have. But I guess I should go now and let you finish getting ready."_ And then I can get a good seat so I can keep an eye on you. I'll die before I let those sluts get their hands on you, Sami promised herself as she walked out of the dressing room. _


	10. Pyromania

Chapter Ten

  
  
**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews, they're awesome! Sorry about this chapter, I wasn't very happy with it but I've got big plans for eleven and twelve so keep the reviews coming.**  
  
Sami didn't know how she wound up sitting with Nicole, Crystal and their other friend, Jan, again but she did. Like her, they had came to the club early to get good seats and all of them were sitting right up close to the stage again. This gave Sami an advantage because it meant she was one of the people closest to Lucas and it ensured that she would have an easier time stopping the other women from trying to tear off his g-string or something. Of course, sitting with Jan and Nicole and Crystal definitely had it's disadvantages. All three women had seemed to realize that it really pissed her off when they said something dirty about Lucas and did it whenever they got the chance.   
  
"Oh my gosh, Sami, Lucas is such a good dancer," Crystal said as she watched him, "I bet he's good at other kinds of dancing too. Like the kind Nicole made you think he was doing with Rex and Phillip."   
  
"And your point is?" Sami grumbled, not giving Crystal the satisfaction of looking at her.   
  
"I'm just saying that I'd like to have a shot at him sometime. Do you think you could set us up? Since you're obviously not dating him." Crystal sniggered.   
  
"Why don't you just go fuck yourself because it would be a hell of a lot cheaper?" Sami struck back hotly, her fists aching from being clenched together so tightly. God dammit, if Crystal and Jan didn't stop purposely trying to make her mad, they would be the first ones to see just how horrible her wrath could be. They might not have acted on any of their words but with people like them, it was only a matter of time before they took their jokes too far. Then she would be forced to kill them.   
  
"Meow," Nicole broke in, eyeing Sami with mild worry, "You better stay away from Sami's cream supply, Crystal. Or she'll take her claws and rip you into little pieces."   
  
"Cream supply?" Sami wrinkled her nose at the obvious innuendo, "You are such a sicko, Nicole."   
  
"Of course I am," Nicole tossed back easily, "But sickos always have more fun. Didn't you know that?"   
  
Jan finally spoke up, "That guy has an enormous bulge right now and I don't even think he's erect. Him and Phillip and their other brother are all incredibly lucky that way. How big is it approximately, Sami? Eight inches, nine, possibly even ten?"   
  
"Feel free to shut up at any time," Sami replied in a mock pleasant voice, "God, what do you think I am, obsessed like you or something? Yes, I _enjoy_ sitting around and staring at Lucas' south pole and trying to figure out how long it is. I do it whenever I can."   
  
"I would," Jan said seriously, "Same with Phillip or Rex. Or Sha- or this other guy I knew from Europe that's really hot." Jan quickly stopped herself from saying Shawn's name and prayed that Sami wouldn't realize what she had been about to say.   
  
"That's all you ever do, Jan," Nicole reminded her, "Remember when you invited me and Crystal over and you made us watch those gay porn videos because you said that one of the guys in the movie looked liked that 'really hot guy from Europe' and the other one looked like Phillip and yours eyes were glued to the tv screen the whole time."   
  
"So were yours," Jan sighed at the memory, "There's just something so hot about the idea of my two favourite men being all naked and sweaty together like that."   
  
"Ew," Sami buried her face in her hands, "Don't any of you ever stop talking? I think if you don't stop talking, I'll be forced to tell Phillip you're having fantasies about him starring in a gay porn movie with some European guy."   
  
Jan's eyes widened, "Don't tell him that! He'd hate me. I'll be quiet now, I will!"   
  
Jan slouched in her chair and looked back up at the stage pouting but the pout quickly became a smile as Lucas began to shed the annoying layers of his costume.   
  
"I didn't say I would stop talking," Crystal piped up, "You know, I liked that movie, Jan. It was better than the movies I had to do. Those guys had huge 'south poles', as Sami would say. But the other move you showed us I didn't like that much. The guys were too muscular, it was scary. They looked like they were on steroids. Kinda like your brother, Nicole."   
  
Sami stiffened at the mention of Brandon but remained silent, "Really?" Nicole shot an amused glance at Sami, "Please, go on."   
  
"I know he's a boxer but those muscles were scary, man!" Crystal exclaimed, "He was so bulky, he looked like he would crush you or something. I honestly do think he takes steroids. And don't even get me started on his face. I have never seen another person's lips resemble gorilla lips more than his do."   
  
"Well, he might be my brother but you _did_ make some very good points. Don't you think so, Sami?" Nicole asked innocently.   
  
"Stop bothering me!" Sami hissed, her eyes blazing, "I don't care about your stupid brother, just quit it!"   
  
"Am I missing something?" Crystal asked.   
  
"Sami used to be married to Brandon." Nicole informed Crystal, who clamped her hand over her mouth.   
  
"Oops," Crystal uttered, looking at Sami cautiously, "I wasn't trying to insult your taste. Because I do think that guy up there is quite a catch."   
  
"Well, he's not mine, so it doesn't matter." Sami returned, "Why aren't you listening to me? Geez, I figured half naked sexy men would be enough to keep you quiet. What else do you need? I have some nice, shiny nickels in my purse, if I give those to you, will you be quiet?"   
  
"What? No quarters?" Crystal looked insulted. Nicole sighed and patted her on the shoulder.   
  
"Crystal, you're just making us look even worse. Stop it."   
  
Crystal huffed but finally shut her mouth. Now that all of them were silent and Sami went back to watching Lucas, who was wearing nothing but his g-string for the second time in two nights.   
  
Thinking she could just sit back and secretly enjoy Lucas' performance, Sami was irritated to hear the loud giggling coming from the row of seats behind her own. Just when she got Nicole, Crystal and Jan to shut up, a bunch of bimbos would start distracting her from Lucas again. This club really sucked sometimes.   
  
"Was this guy really flirting with you at Alice's Bar, Manda?" Sami froze when she realized who was sitting behind her. It was that skinny twig that had been hanging all over Lucas at the opening night of the bar.   
  
"Yeah, he totally was," Sami turned slightly and saw Manda smiling proudly at the women sitting next to her, "But for some reason, he just stopped flirting with me after a while. But I'm sure I could make it work out if I get a chance to talk to him after he's finished up there. He was so into me!"   
  
"I'm sure you'd more than talk to him," her friend replied knowingly.   
  
Manda giggled girlishly, "You bet I would. I want a piece of that meat so badly."   
  
Nicole leaned over to whisper in Sami's ear, "Looks like she's not only after your cream supply but she's after your meat supply as well. Kick her ass!"   
  
"I think you're enjoying this a little bit too much, Nicole," Sami ground out, then turned around to face Manda, "Excuse me but he is not a piece of meat and he ditched you for a reason. He doesn't like you."   
  
A flash of recognition crossed Manda's face, "Oh, it's you. What are you doing here? Trying to ruin the special night I'm planning for me and the man I'm going to be with. He was flirting with me. That means something. I think you're the one he doesn't like. Why would he? Look at you!"   
  
"You don't deserve him," Sami retorted, "You only want him for one thing and guess what? It's not going to happen."   
  
"We'll see about that." Manda responded, "I just know I can get Lucas to make love to me,"   
  
"Don't you dare use 'make love' and Lucas' name in the same sentence, you tramp," Sami seethed, rising for her seat. Manda stood up as well.   
  
"Try and stop me!"   
  
"Oh, she will. Let's take this outside, bitch." Jan intervened, pulling Sami away from the chairs. Manda, Crystal and Nicole followed behind them and Sami stared at Jan in shock.   
  
"What are you doing?" Sami whispered angrily to Jan.   
  
"I'm helping you," Jan whispered back, "I'm making sure you do a great job of kicking her ass. And I'll get to watch and it will be funny. I don't like that girl. She reminds me of Belle."   
  
"I'm not going to beat her up," Sami returned, "I just wanted to make her stop talking about Lucas like that."   
  
"Well, we're out here, what choice do you have?" Jan asked.   
  
Once they were standing outside, Sami crossed her arms over her chest, "Just stay away from Lucas, okay? He doesn't need people like you bothering him."   
  
"I have no intention of bothering him," Manda told Sami, "But I'm sure he's finished his dance and I want to go talk to him. Who knows? Maybe we'll end up getting nasty in his change room."   
  
Manda started to walk away but Sami grabbed the back of her shirt and shoved her angrily. She fell onto the ground with a shriek. She pulled herself to her feet and brushed at her dressed frantically.   
  
"You got my dress dirty," Manda whined, then broke into a hopeful smile, "Not that it matters. I'm sure me and Lucas are going to get really dirty by the time the night is over. I'm not going to waste me time on you."   
  
Manda tried to walk away a second time and Jan tossed something to Sami. Sami turned it over in her hands and realized it was a lighter. She looked at Jan questioningly and Jan tugged on her own hair and motioned to Manda, indicating what Sami should do. Then Jan clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture and mouthed 'please'.   
  
Sami had to consider it for a moment but finally decided that Manda had earned the punishment. She had no right to call Lucas a piece of meat and act like she was going to get lucky with him. She would pay.   
  
Sami flicked the lighter on and walked up behind Manda. She held the lighter up to the light brown hair and the crackling sound the hair made as it burned was one of the most satisfying sounds she had heard in a long time. Manda stopped walking and sniffed the air.   
  
"Is something burning?" Manda asked, then turned to see Sami holding the lighter. Her eyes widened in horror and she hands reached up to touch her hair. She burst into tears after feeling it, "My hair is _crunchy_," she wailed, "What am I going to do? No one will sleep with me now that I have crunchy hair! How am I supposed to go on living?"   
  
"I can't believe you gave Sami that lighter, Jan," Crystal reprimanded her, "What are you, crazy?"   
  
Jan whirled around to face Crystal, another lighter in her hand. She flicked it on and waved the flame in front of Crystal's face, "Stay back, ingrate. I have another one and I'm not afraid to use it."   
  
Crystal leapt back in horror, "Ah! You really are a freaking pyromaniac!"   
  
"And you're a _nymphomaniac_, so what difference does it make?"   
  
"Actually, Jan, I think you're a nymphomaniac too." Nicole remarked.   
  
"So are you! What the hell, we all are! That's why we get along so well!" Jan shouted. Suddenly, Bonnie and two men in suits, who were obviously the club's bouncers, came running out of the club.   
  
"What's all the yelling about?" Bonnie asked breathlessly.   
  
"_She set my hair on fire_," Manda wailed, pointing a shaky finger in Sami's direction.   
  
"Sami, you didn't!" Bonnie sounded horrified.   
  
Jan quickly stepped up to face Bonnie, "I can explain, Mrs. Lockhart," Jan told her.   
  
"Jan Spears? I thought you were off in Europe. You've got a lot of nerve showing up back in Salem after all the stunts you pulled." Bonnie said, putting her hands on her hips.   
  
"I know," Jan lowered her head shamefully, "I'm working hard to make up for all the horrible things I've done in the past now. But as I was saying before, Sami was practically forced to light this woman's hair on fire. See, Manda here was threatening to sexually harass one of your strippers and since all four of us knew that it would be bad publicity for your club if one of the strippers got sexually harassed, we did everything we could to stop her."   
  
Bonnie mouth twitched as she fought back a smile, "Really? And was this stripper involved Lucas by any chance?"   
  
"How did you guess?" Jan grinned, then frowned at Manda, "I think you should kick Manda out of the club for tonight after making such terrible threats."   
  
Manda wiped at her eyes, "Don't bother. I'm leaving this stupid place and never coming back. After I fix my hair, I think I'll go back to picking up guys at bars instead. This is a stupid place anyway." Without another word, Manda rushed off in the direction of the parking lot, still in tears. The bouncers turned to look at the remaining for women regretfully.   
  
"I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave too, ladies. Just for the night, so things can cool down."   
  
"But- but- but," Jan looked like the bouncer had just told her she could never enter the club again, "But we saved the stripper man! That should count for something!"   
  
"It does," Bonnie assured her, "You can come back tomorrow. Tonight won't be anywhere near as fun as tomorrow will be. I've got a big surprise for all you ladies and you definitely won't want to miss it. Especially you, Sami." Bonnie gave her a meaningful smile and Sami could only imagine what that smile meant and what was in store for her tomorrow night. 


	11. Edible

Chapter Eleven

  
  
"This is crap," Rex announced loudly, "I refuse to play Robin to Phillip's batman."   
  
"It doesn't look like you have a choice," Phillip pointed out, "You're already in costume and all the other costumes are taken. Besides, I don't see what you're complaining about. I wanted to be Superman but no, Bonnie says that Lucas gets to be Superman."   
  
"Couldn't I at least be Spiderman or Daredevil?" Rex asked, glaring at Patrick and Tanner, who were currently wearing those said costumes, "I'd take either one. Anything is better than playing Robin."   
  
"Rex, stop giving everybody a hard time," Mimi chided him, coming up behind the men with an armload of capes in hand, "You look great in your Robin costume." Mimi's gaze slid up and down Rex's body carefully. Yes, he looked very good. In the green leggings, black boots and gloves and red body suit, Mimi knew she would definitely rather shack up with Robin than end up in the backseat of Batman's Bat-mobile at the moment. Not that she had any complaints about Phillip's batman costume. Or any of the costumes for that matter.   
  
"It's not the Robin costume," Rex retorted, "It's an ego thing. I am smarter and better than Phillip, therefore _I _should be Batman. Besides, I wouldn't mind playing Robin if Lucas or Patrick or Tanner was playing Batman. But there's no way I want to be _Phillip's _sidekick."   
  
"Come on, we flipped a coin and I won fair and square," Phillip reminded his brother, "Besides, I don't know what you have against me lately. Just give it up, man."   
  
"You're trying to steal Shawn's girl," Rex fumed, "What kind of a friend are you? You're being a complete traitor. I hope Shawn gets back in time to stop you from stealing Belle from him."   
  
Phillip grunted, "You're awfully quick to defend Shawn. Do you love him or something?"   
  
Rex's nose crinkled up in disgust, "He's my cousin."   
  
"Yeah, and your love for him goes beyond cousin-cousin." Phillip added with a snort. Rex's scowl deepened and he stepped toward Phillip and raised a hand to hit him. But Phillip backed up and gave Rex a warning look.   
  
"Don't touch it. You'll mess up my costume."   
  
"All right, that's enough," Mimi stepped between the two men, "Phillip, stop provoking Rex and Rex, stop accusing of Phillip of trying to move in on Belle. God, for two grown men, you both act like ten year olds with a serious case of sibling rivalry."   
  
"That's pretty much it," Lucas spoke up with a raised eyebrow, "Can you two chill out? We're all friends here, right?"   
  
"Well, we're friends with you, Lucas," Rex replied, "I like you because you don't accuse me of being gay with Shawn and don't try to take people's women away from them."   
  
"Yeah and I like you because you're don't accuse me of doing things I don't do," Phillip jumped in, glaring at Rex, "But I'm Lucas' favourite brother. Not you."   
  
"Get real, Lucas likes me better. I'm smarter than you," Rex replied.   
  
"But you used to hate Lucas. You were always a jerk to him and me and Shawn too. I was never as mean to him as you were."   
  
"That was a long time ago. We're cool now. Right, Lucas?"   
  
"Sure, we're cool." Lucas agreed and Rex turned to Phillip triumphantly.   
  
"I told you he liked me better," Rex said to Phillip.   
  
"Just because he says you're cool doesn't mean he likes you better," Phillip argued, "The two of us were brothers for longer."   
  
Mimi looked from Rex to Phillip and then over to Lucas, "Are you finding this disturbing as I am? I can't believe they're fighting over you."   
  
Lucas shook his head, "I think they're just looking for things to fight over now. They're not serious, they're just being idiots."   
  
"All right, you guys," Mimi interrupted them briskly, "Here are your capes." She handed Lucas a red cape, Phillip a black one and Rex a black one with yellow lining, "And Spiderman and Daredevil don't get one."   
  
"Thanks, Meems," Phillip took the cape from her and went to work on tying it around his neck. When he looked up again, Jan was making her way towards him and a smile spread across his face before he could stop himself. Rex, Mimi and Lucas noticed the smile and turned to look at Jan. Mimi let out an indignant gasp when she saw Jan.   
  
"How dare you?" Mimi began to scold Jan before she had even finished making her way to the group of people, "How dare you come back to Salem, let alone enter my mother's club! I'm going to get the bouncers to kick you out!"   
  
Jan gave Mimi a overly sweet smile, "I don't think that's a possibility. I mean, first off, I haven 't done anything wrong and second off, I work here now."   
  
"Work here?" Mimi repeated, dumbstruck.   
  
"That's right," Jan frowned, "Wait, technically, I'm a volunteer since you're mom isn't paying me. She said she only needed you as a water girl but she let me be the second water girl for the strippers because I told her I wanted to work back here so I could start making amends with you for all the horrible things I've done in the past."   
  
"You are so lying to me," Mimi declared with a toss of her short hair, "I am going to go have a talk with my mom right now. There's no way I'm letting you steal my water girl tasks from me. _Mother_!" Mimi marched out of the dressing room angrily, muttering under her breath. Once Mimi was gone, Rex cleared his throat.   
  
"I have to go get my costume touched up," Rex said before walking away from the group.   
  
Jan looked from Lucas to Phillip, "Wow, your costumes are awesome. Is this the surprise? The super hero costumes?"   
  
"Sort of," Phillip answered, "But there's more to it than that. Tonight, Bonnie wants to get some of the audience members up on stage so they can get in on the action too. There's going to be a little contest."   
  
"Sounds interesting," Jan squinted at the costumes Phillip and Lucas were wearing, "Damn, those are nice costumes. Where did you find material that fits so well?"   
  
Lucas coughed into his hand to hide his laughter, "Gee, I don't know. It's amazing, isn't it?"   
  
"It really is," Jan agreed.   
  
"I think I have to go finish getting my costume together too," Lucas told Phillip and Jan, still trying his best to hide a smirk at Jan's words. She would probably figure out the truth about their 'costumes' from Phillip but before then, Lucas didn't know if he could stop himself from bursting into laughter at the irony of the whole conversation he and Phillip were having with Jan. He began to walk away and Jan turned back to admire the dark glittering silver and black colours.   
  
"Seriously, what is this thing made out of? It fits you like a glove." Jan remarked, not even bother trying to hide the admiration in her voice. Impulsively, she slid her hands up his arm to feel the material. She frowned at Phillip's amused grin and didn't realize what amused him so much until she slid all the way up his arm and shoulder to find that there wasn't a neckline to the costume. She gaped at him.   
  
"Phillip, are you naked?" she asked, her eyes sliding down his chest to lower regions in amazement.   
  
Phillip couldn't stop himself from chuckling at her reaction, "Except for my g-string, yeah. We all are."   
  
Jan twirled around in a full circle, taking a closer look at Rex, Lucas, Patrick and Tanner's appearances. After a minute or two, she turned back to Phillip, "You're right. And I was so sure you guys were all just wearing really sleek body suits of something. I can't believe it took me so long to figure it out. I must be losing my touch."   
  
"And that's not all that's special about these costumes," Phillip told her, enjoying seeing her reactions, "They're edible."   
  
Jan's eyes brightened, "You're kidding," Phillip shook his head and she pulled him behind a rack of clothes so the other strippers couldn't see them, "Then I want to be the first one to taste."   
  
Before Phillip could stop her, Jan brought her head down and nipped at his sugar-coated shoulder. After lightly biting him with her teeth, she flicked out her tongue to taste his shoulder, causing Phillip to jump in surprise. He still couldn't get over how different Jan was from Belle. Belle would probably never lick him without asking for permission first whereas Jan just jumped right in there and did whatever she wanted.   
  
"Good going, Jan," Phillip looked over at his shoulder in disgust, "You licked away my costume. Now I'm going to go have to get the touched up by those makeup artists over there. Just as soon as they finish with Patrick's Spiderman costume and Rex and Lucas' costumes."   
  
Jan ran her tongue over her lips, "You taste sweet. I like that." she smiled almost shyly at him,   
  
"Yeah, well, I hope Belle will enjoy licking all of it off me tonight," Phillip returned, causing Jan to reel back as if she had been slapped.   
  
"What did you just say?"   
  
"Well, that's what the contest is for," Phillip explained, "Each guy picks a girl to come up on stage. The girl that licks the guy clean the fastest wins a prize. It was Bonnie's idea. It took her forever to get all of us to go along with it because, as Lucas pointed out, getting licked all over by females in public could present some problems. But that's okay, the point is, I'm going to pick Belle because I don't want to pick some strange girl I don't know to lick me."   
  
"You think Belle would lick every bit of that of that sugar off of your body in front of that many people? Or even in private with you?" Jan scoffed, "I think not."   
  
"It's worth a try," Phillip replied.   
  
"No, actually it isn't," Jan objected, stepping closer to him, "But I'd do it. And I'd be a lot more likely to win that contest than Belle would."   
  
"What are you saying?" Phillip asked slowly, his eyes glittering playfully.   
  
"I'm saying you better pick me and not Belle. Or else," Jan gave him the most menacing look she could manage under the circumstance.   
  
"Or else what?" Phillip challenged.   
  
"Or else I'll cut off your manhood while you're sleeping and send it to your mom through the mail," Jan dead-panned, trying to keep a straight face.   
  
Phillip's eyes widened and he pretended to be afraid, "Oh, no! Please don't do that! I guess I have no choice. I'll have to pick you," he shook his head sadly.   
  
"I don't see what you're so upset about. I'm a better licker than Belle is. I can prove it. Let's practice. I know you don't want me messing up your costume but I'm sure there's one part of you I can lick that isn't covered in sparkling, edible powder." Jan smiled coyly at him and her hands slid under the straps of his g-string.   
  
"I knew it!" Mimi's shrill voice rang out and Phillip and Jan turned to see Mimi standing behind them, "I knew you had ulterior motives for working here! Now you're trying to _rape_ Phillip. I'm telling my mom!"   
  
"You do that, Mimi. Go cry to mommy," Jan snapped, momentarily forgetting she was supposed to be being nice to Mimi. She turned back to Phillip as Mimi began walking away, "I guess I should go try and stop her. But you're still picking me, aren't you?"   
  
"Sure," Phillip promised, taking another look at his shoulder, "I'm going to go fix this,"   
  
Jan nodded and made a move to go after Mimi, then paused and turned back around, "Lucas is going to ask Sami?"   
  
"Yes," Phillip answered, "And Rex is going to ask Mimi."   
  
"You mean Mimi actually found someone who likes her? There's a shocker." Jan commented, then changed the subject, "What about those two other guys? Are they attached to anyone?"   
  
"I don't think so," Phillip returned, "They'll probably just pick random women out of the crowd."   
  
"Not if I can help it," Jan murmured, forgetting all about Mimi and walking towards Patrick and Tanner. A few minutes later, she was engaged in an animated conversation with both of them and Phillip couldn't even guess what she was talking to them about. She was definitely a wild card, unpredictable and sometimes a little too forward for her own good. That was going to get her in trouble one day. But for the time being, he kind of liked it. It was certainly a big change from Belle. And he knew one thing for sure, she probably would be a lot better at licking him than Belle would ever be.

* * *

"Hey, guys," Jan greeted Sami, Nicole and Crystal and slid into the seat they had saved for her, "Guess what?"   
  
"No," Sami said unenthusiastically.   
  
Jan scowled at Sami, "Then don't guess. I'll just tell you. I know what the surprise is! It's going to be awesome. I know all of you will love it." her gaze met each women's suggestively.   
  
"If _you're_ going to love it, then I probably won't," Sami looked up at the still empty stage nervously, "With Bonnie involved, you know it's going to be scary."   
  
"It wasn't scary, believe me," Jan licked her lips, "It was sweet. Literally."   
  
"What are you talking about?" Nicole asked, "Just tell us what the surprise is."   
  
"Now why would I do that? You'll find out in a minute or two anyways." Jan assured Nicole and the four of them fell silent.   
  
As Jan had promised, Bonnie stepped onto the stage a few minutes later. Microphone in hand, she smiled down at the audience members, "Good evening, ladies. Thanks for coming out, we've got something real special planned for you tonight, something that will give five lucky girls the time of their lives and the rest of you some very fine eye candy."   
  
The women in the crowd cheered and Bonnie cleared her throat for silence, "Now we'll introduce you to the sexiest super heros I have ever seen in my life. Let's start off with Daredevil!"   
  
The cheering got louder as a tall, muscular man in a red body suit came out onto the stage. A red mask covered his eyes but Sami could tell immediately that is wasn't Lucas.   
  
"And now let's hear it for everyone's favourite dynamic duo, Batman and Robin!" Bonnie called out over the cheers and Rex and Phillip emerged. Even with the black goggles covering Rex's eyes, Sami could tell that Rex didn't look very happy about something. And Phillip's batman helmet didn't cover the mischievous smile lighting up what the crowd could see of his face. After that, Bonnie called out Spiderman but whoever was hiding under the Spiderman mask was too tall to be Lucas. But after the applause died down, Bonnie looked directly at Sami as she called out the next super hero.   
  
"And last but definitely not least, let's have a big round of applause for Superman!" Bonnie shouted and every clapped and screamed when Lucas appeared on the stage. Sami sucked in her breath when she saw him. Despite the fact she might be a little biased, she still thought he was the best looking super hero up there. He didn't wear a mask like the rest of them and the royal blue body suit shimmered under the stage lights and his costume fit him like a coat of paint. Every hard line of his body was outlined by the body suit and the red and yellow Superman logo sat in the middle of his defined pectorals. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pull her eyes away from his body. But she didn't have long to admire him because Bonnie's voice brought her out of her trance-like state as she stared at Lucas.   
  
"Now, each of these studs are going to select one female from the crowd to be their 'partner' for this competition." Bonnie pointed at the man in the Daredevil costume, "Why don't you start?"   
  
The women in the club went crazy, screaming and waving their arms around, trying to get his attention. The only women that Sami could tell weren't doing this were herself and Jan, who sat calmly next to Sami.   
  
"Why aren't you trying to get up there? I figured you'd be getting more excited about this than anyone."   
  
"I'm very excited," Jan said with a smile, "But I've already got an arrangement with Batboy so I'll let someone else have Daredevil."   
  
Sami nodded and sat back, somewhat surprised to see Crystal get selected by Daredevil. After Daredevil finished, Rex aka Robin picked Mimi, and Spiderman picked Nicole. Sami's lip curled in disgust.   
  
"What is this? This contest has to be fixed or something."   
  
"Don't I know it," Jan spoke up, smiling wickedly up at the stage.   
  
Sami rolled her eyes, "I should have known you were behind this."   
  
"Okay, it's Batman's turn to pick." Bonnie called out and just as Jan had let on, Phillip almost immediately met Jan's eyes and motioned her up to the stage. Which only left Lucas. His eyes met hers and for a moment, he looked like he was going to break eye contact and move on to pick someone else. Sami's heart began pounding at the site of his gaze locked on hers. She didn't know whether she wanted him to pick her or not. She certainly didn't want him picking anyone else but she didn't want to go up there and participate in whatever competition Bonnie had in store for them. Damn Lucas for putting her in such a terrible lose-lose situation. But finally, he pointed at her and made a movement telling her to come up to the stage. Sami remained frozen in her chair for a moment before reluctantly standing up and joining everyone else up on the stage.   
  
"All right," Bonnie flashed another wide smile, "Now, before we start this contest, there's something everyone needs to know about these costumes." As if on cue, each stripper removed their masks and capes and spun around in a circle, "They're actually not costumes at all. They're really edible body suits." Sami's eyes widened at this disclosure and turned to take a closer look at Lucas. He definitely wasn't wearing anything except a g-string. She could see where the strap of the g-string met skin, which had been coloured red with some kind of sparkling powder. And she could make out the darker spots on each pectoral where his nipples stood out.   
  
Once the shocked gasps and murmurs died down, Bonnie spoke again, "That's where these young ladies come in. When I say go, they are going to start licking off the edible body suit. Whoever finishes licking their super hero clean first wins a prize."   
  
Sami looked at Lucas in horror, unable to believe what she had just let herself get mixed up in. She couldn't start licking Lucas in public. She'd die of embarrassment. But it looked like she didn't have a choice anymore and it was better that she did it as opposed to anyone else. But it still pissed her off that Lucas had to get the job as a stripper in the first place. If he wasn't stripping at this club, then she couldn't be in this situation at all. She looked up at him with furious sparks shooting from her eyes.   
  
"I hate you for doing this to me," Sami whispered in his ear, "And I'm going to make you regret ever agreeing to this contest. Especially since I _do_ have the upper hand here,"   
  
"You go ahead and try that, Sami," Lucas whispered back, his voice thick with doubt. _We'll see how much he doubts me by the time this is over_, Sami thought, baring her teeth at him threateningly.   
  
"Okay, on your mark, get set... Go!" Bonnie cried, the last word echoing through the entire strip club. 


	12. Taste

Chapter Twelve

  
  
As soon as Bonnie said go, Sami grabbed Lucas' wrist roughly and licked the first bit of sugary body powder off his wrist. She quickly slid her tongue up his entire arm, clearing away all blue powder in the process. With practiced movements, she moved her tongue to the side and started trailing down his arm in the same manner until she reached his wrist again. She continued using the same movements on his arm until it she had finished cleaning half of it. She couldn't get over how inordinately please she was with herself. There was just something so satisfying about getting to lick Lucas under false pretenses, about getting to lick him in front of tons of other women who would have killed for this chance.   
  
The truth was, a while ago, the idea of licking edible powder off someone's body wouldn't have appealed to her that much. The stuff was too sugary for her tastes but when it now that it was covering her favorite treat, she could easily make an exception. She could taste Lucas underneath the thick layer of sugar, so she could just consider the sugar a barrier, like it was Lucas' real clothes, only it took more work to remove it. She raised his arm so she could attack the layer of paint coating the rest of his arm. Still a little angry at Lucas, she didn't even bother to try and keep her teeth from coming into play and she let her eyeteeth scrape along his arm along with her tongue, digging the teeth into his skin lightly for a minute before continuing to lap up the rest of what she could officially consider her dessert.   
  
She finished with his left arm and her tongue skimmed along the fake neckline of Lucas' costume and he tilted his head back slightly to give her more access to the 'costume'. As she licked her way across the skin just above his collarbone, her face brushed against his neck and she could feel the rapid beating of the pulse in his throat. Smiling inwardly at her ability to get him worked up by doing so little, she enclosed her entire mouth over Lucas' right arm and smoothed down it, swirling her tongue around the flesh at the same time. Her mouth slid down the defined ridges of his biceps at a leisurely pace before she picked up speed when she reached his wrist, moving her mouth over so she could lave away more blue paint.

* * *

"Is Bonnie _allowed_ to go this far? I mean, if I wanted to watch this, I would go rent some happy little porn movies and watch them in the comfort of my own home. This should be illegal." Julie complained for the third time that night as she watched the women continue to lick the men on stage.   
  
Mickey turned to face Bonnie and from the look on his face, it was clear that his patience was wearing thin, "Julie, dear, it's Bonnie's club and she can do whatever she wants. Besides, it's perfectly legal. It is, after all, a strip club."   
  
"But this is going too far!" Julie protested stubbornly, "Bonnie should not be allowed to do make those girls get up there and lick that stuff off them!"   
  
"I don't think she made them," Mickey remarked dryly, "So, this is perfectly acceptable. Stop worrying about it."   
  
Julie huffed indignantly, "I cannot believe you and Lucas call yourself Hortons."   
  
Before Mickey could respond, another sharp, furious voice cut through the air, "Dear Lord! Is this what Bonnie considers a _good_ surprise? Because I don't think I've ever seen anything more horrifying!"   
  
Mickey groaned when he saw Kate standing behind him, "Oh, well, now, this is terrific. First Julie and now you. I certainly hope you aren't going to jump on stage and try to cover up your sons again. I would think you would have learned your lesson after getting knocked out by a shoe but I don't know. At any rate, don't try anything stupid or I'll get the bouncers to kick you out."   
  
Kate glared at Mickey, "I only came because I heard there was going to be something interesting going on tonight. I should have known Bonnie would do something like this. Why is Sami up there? Why is she touching my son again?" Kate tried to move past Mickey but he grabbed her shoulder before she could go anywhere.   
  
"Kate, I mean it! If you try and go up there, I will get the bouncers to make you leave." Mickey warned her again.   
  
"But- but- look at her!" Kate cried, watching helplessly as Sami finished cleaning off Lucas' arm and moved on to his chest.

* * *

Sami lapped up the silky mixture of body powder off of Lucas' chest, starting with one pectoral and licking a spiral-like pattern around the hard flesh, circling in on the flat disk surrounding his nipple. When the blue substance had been cleared from every inch of his right pectoral, she took his nipple in her mouth for a moment, suckling away the paint and then biting down hard enough to make Lucas flinch a little bit. Pleased with herself, Sami moved on and set out to destroy the superman label splashed across his chest. With a quick swipe of her tongue, she began washing away the red outline of the logo. She swirled away all bits of red and yellow from his chest, licking the sugar from her lips before continuing to tongue him clean. She gave his left pectoral the same treatment she had given his right one, then reached his hard, muscular stomach.   
  
She could feel him tightening his stomach muscles as she began tracing almost nonsensical patterns on the flat, smooth expanse of his stomach, increasing the pressure of her tongue every time she neared closer to the one part of him she would unfortunately not get to lick. She paused at his bellybutton for a second, dipping into the small cavern playfully, licking pure sugar from his navel. Then her tongue slid over the painted on belt, her tongue continuing its methodical movements, her head bent over him and licking every inch of him like a panther would lick its meal before devouring it. And that was exactly what Sami wanted to do to him- devour him completely, sugar or no sugar.   
  
Her mouth hit the strap of his g-string and she ran she tongue along the edge of it, getting rid of the last sugary remains from the front of his chest, then trailed up the lines of his rib-cage and the sides of his chest. After that, she put on hand on his warm, damp stomach and pushed lightly.   
  
"Turn around," she mouthed to him, knowing he wouldn't hear her over Bonnie yelling like a sports announcer and all the cheering. Lucas smirked down at her and turned to give her the perfect view of his bright blue back. Sami pulled herself to her feet and gripped his shoulders, then lowered her head to begin licking his shoulder blades. She started between them, sucking away the blue powder skillfully, before moving outwards to rain an equal amount of licks on each shoulder blade. She moved on and ran her wet tongue over the rest of him until his entire back was glistening with nothing but saliva. Which only left two things left. His legs.   
  
Sami got on her knees and dropped her head down, dead set on torturing herself by starting at the bottom of his legs and working her way up to more ideal places for her mouth to be. Her mouth enclosed around his ankle and she had to move her head in several different positions to clean all the way around it. She licked up his leg until she reached his knee. She wetted his knee with her tongue and lapped up the blue sugary mixture, then licked about five more inches higher, still leaving what she was sure would be the best part of her 'meal' untouched. She moved over to his other leg, hurriedly ridding his skin of the blue paint so she could move on to higher places. But even in her haste, she could still savour the warmth and mixed flavours of both Lucas and the sugar. She nibbled eagerly on the back of his second knee, slurping up the sweet, sparkling powder. She sucked on the sweet skin of his taut, bronzed thighs until she had licked off about the same amount of paint she had on the first leg. Now she was going to take her time, contest or no contest. This is where revenge would get really sweet, no pun intended.   
  
She crawled around so she was facing Lucas and so that his back was still to the crowd. She pressed her tongue against his hot skin and brought her tongue up in a ruthlessly slow, seductive movement. She reached his very upper thigh and made eye contact with the large, straining bulge in his g-string. It was a good thing his back was to the audience but still, causing him to get a hard-on in front of all these people was definitely one way to get back at him. She raised her head to meet his eyes and his dilated pupils revealed the amount of want he was feeling. Giving him her patented 'I told you so' look, Sami returned her attention to his upper thighs. Or to be more specific, she returned her attention to what was so harshly demanding her attention _above_ those thighs.   
  
Unable to stop herself, she ran her tongue along the underside of the stiff member through the g-string material and felt his entire body shudder slightly. For a split second, she closed her teeth around him through the g-string, then returned to his thighs. She had to get his very, very upper thighs and clean the body powder off his backside and then she would be finished. She had press her face into his groin (unintentionally, of course, she snickered to herself) to get to those hard to reach places and she could tell it was killing him. _Well, that's what you get, General_, she thought triumphantly, nipping at his thighs and taking him by surprise again. But even with the side of her face pushing into his hard length, she still couldn't reach everything she needed to in order to 'win' the contest.   
  
She nudged her nose against the side of one leg pointedly, then used her head to push both of his legs further apart. _He is_ so _going to kill me for this_, Sami realized as she plunged her head between his legs.

* * *

Kate stood frozen at the sight in front of her. She had never thought she would have to deal with this Sami problem again, despite walking in on her spanking Lucas but now here Sami was, her head between Lucas' legs in a very public place. That little tramp! Kate would make her pay for this if it was the last thing she did.   
  
"Kate, are you okay?" Mickey asked carefully, watching the women shoot daggers at someone on the stage with her eyes.   
  
"Getthefuckawayfrommyson." Kate hissed at Sami, too angry to realize that Sami wouldn't be able to hear her at first. But when she did reach that conclusion, she threw her head back and repeated the exclamation at the top of her lungs.   
  
"I said, get the _fuck_ away from my son!" Kate's voice could be heard above all other noises and everyone turned to look at her. Mickey tried to smile at the people staring at Kate. Mickey then turned to motion the bouncers over.   
  
"Get her out of here," he instructed them, knowing that Kate would probably lose it completely if they didn't get her out of there right away, "I'm sorry, Kate, but I did warn you."   
  
Julie shook her head in disgust, "What has Bonnie done to you, Uncle Mickey?" she asked sadly as the bouncers dragged away a hysterical Kate Roberts.

* * *

Sami fought back a giggle when she heard Kate screaming. Not that it was hard to do, all she had to do was focus on the task at hand. Obviously, Lucas wasn't the only one turned on by this. She could feel her aching hard nipples pushing against the silk of her bra and her breath caught in her throat. She had never been this close to this part of Lucas and it was definitely a very interesting experience. She could practically hear his blood pounding hotly into that hard shaft and she had to do everything she could to keep herself from reaching up the curling her fingers around it, from feeling it pulsate in her hand. She licked away all the blue powder from the very insides of his thighs, unable to stop herself from thinking about how it had gotten there.   
  
She could picture Lucas in her head now. She could picture his hands covered in a liberal amount of the blue powder and she could see him covering his own chest with the substance, then his arms, then she could see him beginning to cover his ankles and working his way up, touching all the parts of himself that Sami wanted to touch. But she also added darkly to herself that she hoped that Phillip or Rex had been the one to cover his back for him. Or maybe even Mimi would have been harmless but no one else.   
  
After finishing that, she crawled back around to finish licking him off when Bonnie begin to cheer loudly.   
  
"Well, folks, it looks like we have a winner." Bonnie spoke up in her sports announcer's voice, "Ms. Jan Spears, you were certainly an enthusiastic competitor from the beginning and it pays off. You are the first one to finish licking your man clean, with Sami as the runner up."   
  
Nicole, Crystal and Mimi jumped to their feet in protest, "That's not fair!" Nicole protested, "Our guys were _taller_ than theirs were."   
  
Jan stuck her tongue out at Nicole, which was black, then burst out laughing, "Haha, Nicole. Your mouth is brown!"   
  
Sami looked up from Lucas' body to look at Nicole, whose mouth was indeed brown from a combination of Patrick's red and black costume.   
  
"Well, your mouth is black!" Nicole shot back.   
  
Bonnie cleared her throat, "All right, Jan. Your prize is a certificate for one all-you-can-drink night on the house here at Unzipped!"   
  
Jan looked a little bit disappointed as she took the coupon from Bonnie, "I was the hoping the prize had something to do with the strippers but at least I got to lick Phillip." She turned to grin at Phillip, "We make a great team."   
  
"Even if you did all the work," Phillip agreed.   
  
Sami stared at Jan's glowing face in disgust. Sami knew she could have one the contest, not that she really wanted the alcohol but it still would have been nice to win just for winning's sake. It was all Lucas' fault. She had almost finished licking off his legs but he had to go and distract her with that third leg of his. And judging from the look Lucas was giving her, he wasn't going to let her get away from him without getting her back for trying to embarrass him in front of all these people. And after the way she had 'punished' him the other night, cruel and unusual punishments in return were definitely not out of the question. 


	13. Rejected

Chapter Thirteen

  
  
Jan spun around in a circle and smiled at her reflection in the mirror. As fun as it might have been to stay a little later at the club with Nicole, Crystal and Sami and then maybe see if she could have spent some time with Phillip after his stripping shift ended, she didn't have too many regrets about returning to her country home to see Shawn. Maybe tonight was the night he would finally give it up to her and if that was the case, she wanted the night to last as long as possible.  
  
_"You're leaving?" Nicole asked skeptically, watching Jan with confusion in her eyes. After Nicole, Crystal, Mimi, Sami and Jan had cleaned up a little backstage, Jan had began collecting her things and looking towards the exit to the dressing room almost longingly.  
  
Jan nodded shortly and looked around her inconspicuously before grabbing the containers of edible body paint that had been left on Phillip's dressing table. Nicole appeared to be trying her best not to laugh as Jan discreetly placed the containers inside her purse.  
  
"What do you plan on doing with those? Didn't you and Phillip have enough fun with that stuff tonight already?" Nicole teased.  
  
"They're not for Phillip," Jan responded, smiling at her friend, "They're for my sexy lover boy back at my country house. I'm going to see if he'll lick this stuff off me. Then I can lick it off him and he'll realize how fun it is and he'll have sex with me."  
  
"You wish," Nicole frowned at Jan, "But you and Phillip were just- you know, you seemed really into Phillip tonight. What the hell is up with that if you're still crazy about Shawn?"  
  
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't find Phillip one hot stripper," Jan grinned widely at Nicole, "And you know me, I never lie," Nicole rolled her eyes as Jan continued, "And licking all that stuff off Phillip did kinda turn me on. But since Shawn is my main man, the only solution is to go home and get the guy to make love to me until I'm completely satisfied. Because quite frankly, it doesn't matter what or who gives you your appetite, provided you make sure you eat at home."  
  
"Good point, I'll have to remember that," Nicole remarked sarcastically but Jan was already sailing towards the dressing room's exit door, a dreamy smile lighting up her entire face. _  
  
Jan gave her appearance a more thorough scan before covering her eyes with the cat-woman mask. She wondered how long it would take Shawn to realize that instead of wearing a sparkling, sleek cat suit, she was actually naked underneath all this powder. And even if he refused to lick her, she would be more than ready to lick him. She snatched up the remains of the body powder from the dresser she had left it sitting on and started towards Shawn's room. She ambled her way down the hallway until she reached his bedroom door and flung it open. Shawn was sprawled out on his stomach, his head propped up on a pillow on the foot of the bed. He raised his head from the pillow to look at her.  
  
"How does my outfit look?" Jan asked in an coquettish voice, watching his eyes darken with lust. She knew she was getting to him, he wasn't that different from every other red-blooded guy in the world. And she had seen the way she had looked in the mirror and she knew the dark, glittering powder highlighted every curve and dip of her body in a very flattering light. Even Shawn's so-called 'undying' devotion to Belle wouldn't stand a chance if she kept playing dirty like this. She knew she could hold her own when it came to Belle Black, no matter what Shawn seemed to think.  
  
"Is that what you wore to the strip club?" Shawn asked flatly and Jan could tell that he was trying to look unaffected. But it was obvious he wasn't as unaffected as he was trying to look.  
  
"Maybe," Jan walked over to the cage and used to key to let herself inside, "Isn't it beautiful?"  
  
"Sure," Shawn said, his voice completely void of any enthusiasm.  
  
Jan pretended not to notice the sarcasm and laughed throatily, edging towards him, "If you like the this looks, wait until you taste it."  
  
Shawn wrinkled his nose up at the suggestion, watching as Jan got onto the bed and crawled toward him like an agile cat. Once she was straddling him with only her panties and his little league pants separating them, Jan waved her powder-covered wrist in front of his face.  
  
"Come on, just taste a little bit," Jan pleaded with him, "I know you'll like it."  
  
"Absolutely not," Shawn shot back firmly.  
  
"Do it or I'll whip you," Jan threatened and giving her a resentment-filled look, Shawn finally licked a line from her wrist to her elbow. He frowned at the sugary taste her 'outfit' left in his mouth and then he noticed a strip of naked skin where he had licked her.  
  
"What kind of costume is this?" Shawn demanded as realization dawned on him.  
  
"One that only you can remove, Shawn," Jan purred, "You can start whenever and wherever you want. I know you want to."  
  
"No, actually, I don't, Jan!" Shawn lashed out, "I am not going to lick anything off you, you're insane to have ever thought I would. Oh, wait, I already knew you were insane before this so scratch that!"  
  
Jan pouted, "Maybe you'll change your mind after I lick some of this stuff off of you." she suggested, grabbing the containers and coating her hands with the body powder. Once she had done that, she slid she had down Shawn's chest, then began admiring her handiwork. Shawn was not impressed by this and shoved her off of him angrily.  
  
"You are such a _bitch_, Jan," he yelled angrily, "What part of 'no' don't you understand?"  
  
"The part that won't let me have what I want!" she yelled back, "Why are you being so stupid?"  
  
"I'm being stupid? That's a laugh. You're the stupid one. I'm never going to love you, my love for Belle is everlasting and I'm going to find my way back to her somehow."  
  
Jan felt her face heat up with anger. This was not the way Shawn was supposed to respond to her advances. Tonight was supposed to be their night, different from all the other nights he had resisted her. But he still wouldn't give in. She knew if she waited long enough, it would happen, but this plot was moving too slowly. And why should she wait around for Shawn when there were other men who would make love to her? _Like Phillip_, Jan thought self-righteously, _I could get him to sleep with me if I put my charm on full force. And it would be good too. For both of us._ Suddenly, a new scheme began formulating in her mind, a scheme that would get her Shawn and let her have some fun in the meantime. _It's absolutely perfect_, Jan told herself proudly, _Why didn't I think of it before? _  
  
Jan glared up at Shawn, "Fine, you want, Belle, I'll give her to you. I can't do this anymore, Shawn, I love you too much to see you unhappy." she wiped away an imaginary tear and went over to him and began unchaining him, "I'm letting you go, Shawn. I hope you're happy now."  
  
The last chain snapped free, but instead of fleeing from the room, Shawn looked up at her in shock, "Huh? So, just like that, you're letting me go? What made you change your mind so fast?"  
  
"Maybe I'm just sick of you," Jan lied, knowing that explanation would annoy the hell out of him, "Please, just leave! I can't stand having you in my house for another minute!"  
  
Shawn's cheeks burned with what Jan was sure was humiliation, "I can't believe you're kicking me out! I'm going to tell the police all about you. They'll arrest you and then you'll be sorry." He stood in front of her defiantly, as if waiting for her to tackle and re-chain him.  
  
"You do that, Shawnie," Jan smirked at him, "Just remember, I have friends in very high places. They're incredibly rich and they'll bail me out right away. Then what will you have to show for this? _Nothing_!" Jan smiled triumphantly, "Go back to Belle, Shawn, I hope you have fun with her."  
  
"You suck!" Shawn screamed, the rejection finally sinking it heavily.  
  
"Thank you," Jan winked at him, "I can still do that before you leave. All you have to do is ask." Jan watched as his face turned a more violent colour of red before he stormed out of the room, making sure to unceremoniously kick the bars of the cage before he left.

* * *

Sami stalked into Lucas' apartment a few feet ahead of him and swivelled around to face him, "Okay, can you make this quick, please? I still can't believe you practically dragged me over here."  
  
The truth was, he hadn't _really_ tried too hard to get her back to his apartment. Sami had to admit that she had come willingly, despite pretending this was the last place she wanted to be. After what she had done to him during that contest, she knew it was only fair that faced the 'consequences', no matter what it was that Lucas had picked out for her. Besides, it would be interesting to see how Lucas would react to what she had done.  
  
"Yeah, well, I think we need to talk." after closing the door behind him, Lucas turned to scowl at Sami, "What were you doing back there at the club?"  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sami feigned innocence.  
  
"Don't do that, Sami," he walked over to her and stood directly in front of her, "You know what I mean. You were licking me."  
  
"Wasn't that what I was supposed to be doing?" Sami asked.  
  
"Not there! As far as I remember, there was no body powder where you were licking me. Care to explain that one?" Lucas challenged.  
  
"Nope," Sami grinned at him, "You can't seriously be angry at me for doing that. It was your own fault for going up there and getting involved in that stupid contest in the first place. Take your medicine." she finished, beginning to walk away from him.  
  
"No, you take _your_ medicine," Lucas returned, smacking her ass when she walked past him. Sami let out a surprised cry and whirled around to glower at him.  
  
"What was that for?" she demanded.  
  
Lucas shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest, "I don't know. You seemed to think spanking me was such a great solution so I figured it might work on you too. It's only fair, right?"  
  
Sami froze as memories of spanking Lucas filled her head. That had been one of top ten most erotic things she had ever experienced, especially since it had led to more than just a spanking afterwards. And it would undoubtedly lead to more than a spanking again this time if she gave in and let him spank her. _But there's nothing sexual about a spanking_, Sami tried to tell herself, _It's purely a disciplinary act. Unless Lucas is doing it_, she added truthfully, taking a deep breath. She couldn't let it happen again. Ever since Lucas had become a stripper, even since she had seen him strip on stage, her desire to touch him had become even more intense than it had been before and that said a lot. And yet she knew getting involved with him while he had this stripping job could end disastrously.  
  
_But you're already involved_, her head screamed, _If you weren't involved, you wouldn't be going to the club every night to watch him, you wouldn't have set Manda's hair on fire. And since you're already involved, why torture yourself by trying to resist Lucas? Because you could hurt him again by making him think you don't love him and only want him for sex,_ she reminded herself, _You did that once and besides, it could hurt you too. You can't do that to yourself. _  
  
She definitely couldn't let Lucas spank her. She really shouldn't be spending too much time with him at all if she was going to keep her hormones under control. Unzipped could be an exception but other than that, she had to keep herself from getting too close to him, unless, of course, he quit his stupid job. And that included not being alone with him in her apartment or his. She had to get out of there. So, instead of even trying to come up with a valid excuse, Sami mumbled something about having to leave and hurried out of the apartment without waiting for Lucas to reply. 


	14. Challenged

Chapter Fourteen

  
  
"Daaamn," Crystal drawled, moistening her lips as she stared lustfully up at the stage, "Just when I think these guys can't get any hotter, Bonnie dresses them up like _this_. That Lockhart women is a freaking genius!"   
  
Sami made a disgruntled sound in the back of her throat, "I don't know what's so great about what they're wearing. I mean, isn't Bonnie supposed to dress them up in costumes? So, why did she let Lucas come out here dressed as _himself_?"   
  
Crystal shot Sami a disgusted look before averting her eyes back up to the stage, "If you'll always going to be so bitchy and critical about everything, why do you even come here? We're supposed to be having fun, not being so uptight and busy finding faults in everything. Why don't you just leave if you don't like it?"   
  
"I didn't say I didn't like it," Sami snapped, "I just said that if they're going to wear costumes, they should actually be _costumes_. Why are you still in Salem anyway? Don't tell me you've decided to stay in Salem for good. Because if you have, then I think I'm going to kill myself. One turbo-slut is enough, we don't need you joining in and teaming up with Nicole."   
  
"I'm not leaving for at least a little while," Crystal informed Sami, "I have to stay in Salem for a bit. Eminem is on tour and he's coming to Salem in a week and I _love_ him. That man is so sexy!"   
  
"What makes me a slut?" Nicole demanded indignantly, "Why does everything always say that about me? Why don't you _define_ slut? Is your definition of a slut a woman who wants to have fun and tries to get their sexual needs met? Because yes, that does make me a slut but in that case, I'd rather be a slut than a prude like you, Sami!"   
  
"I am not a prude!" Sami argued.   
  
"Sami, I'm afraid you are," Crystal agreed with Nicole.   
  
Jan decided it was time to change the topic again and let out a dramatic, love-truck sigh, "You know, those three are making hell look very tempting. I would definitely love to be Satan's mistress if he looked like they do."   
  
Sami gritted her teeth but begrudgingly looked up at Lucas and had to admit that he did fill out his devil costume very well. Red, tight-fitting pants that, like most of his costumes, _very_ lovingly cupped his package, red devil horns, black boots and he carried a pitchfork that he would occasionally poke at random women flirtatiously. Rex and Phillip were on stage dancing with him and they had matching outfits and pitchforks.   
  
"All I know is, if they come over here and start poking me with those ugly pitchforks, I am going to kill them," Sami grumbled, trying to make it sound like she wasn't infatuated by Lucas' costume at all.   
  
"Wow, so not only are you a prude, but you're a prude in denial. That's really sad, Sami." Nicole shook her head, quickly losing all remaining patience with Sami she had left.   
  
"Shut up, Nicole. You don't even know me." Sami shot back.   
  
"Maybe not but I know that you'd love it if Lucas poked you with his..." she stopped for a minute, wrinkling her nose at thoughts of certain parts of Lucas' anatomy, "Pitchfork. I know what a woman in lust looks like and you are most definitely a prime example of a woman in lust."   
  
_Not to mention a woman in love_, Sami added silently, ignoring Nicole and focusing on Lucas. He did look positively sinful and tempting in that revealing devil costume but people couldn't really tell she felt that way, could they? Maybe Nicole was just a special case since she clearly had a lot of experience with this 'lust' factor. But that wouldn't stop her from denying it.   
  
"In lust with Lucas?" Sami scoffed, trying to make it sound like that was the most absurd thing she had ever heard, "You're crazy."   
  
"You certainly seemed to enjoy licking him last night," Sami opened her mouth, then closed it, knowing she was in no position to argue that point, "Why don't you just do him and get it over with, idiot? You know you want to."   
  
"Hm, maybe because I'm not a slut like you," Sami suggested meanly.   
  
"There you go, labeling me again," Nicole rolled her eyes, "Seriously, Sami, why don't you let your naughty side out to play? I mean, I don't give a rat's ass _what_ happens between you and Lucas but if you keep sitting with us, I'm hoping that getting some from your dream man will make you stop being so moody. You only live once. What harm could it do, girl?"   
  
Sami straightened her shoulders haughtily, "I don't engage in casual sex with people." Sami shot back. _Of course, it would be anything but casual_, she thought to herself.   
  
Crystal stared at Sami, horrified, "What's wrong with casual sex? Not that I have much time to 'squeeze' it in between my two jobs but I still like it."   
  
"You have two jobs?" Sami asked in amazement, "My God, that's ambitious for someone like you."   
  
"Don't call is ambitious until you know what the jobs are," Nicole mumbled under her breath, then raised her voice a little, "Sami, why don't you give it a try? Lucas is the father of your child so it certainly isn't casual. And besides, it's part of Lucas' job description. He's supposed to please his audience groupies if they pay enough. If you don't get the money in there and start making requests, some other chick will. Do you really want to see that happen?"   
  
"No," Sami admitted in a gruff voice.   
  
"Then I _dare_ you," Nicole began in a breathy voice, fishing around in her purse for something, "Get Lucas to give you a lap dance. Tonight." she finished, her voice low but packed with enough intensity to shatter someone's eardrums.   
  
Sami's mouth dropped open and she glanced sharply at Lucas' dancing figure up on the stage, "You're kidding! I can't do that!"   
  
"Why not?" Nicole eyed Lucas disdainfully, "I bet he'd do it for you. He's always seemed to be starving for female attention to me," Nicole took something from her purse and pressed it into Sami's hand, "Wave this around, get him to take it from you, smile and wink and bam, he'll take you backstage and give you exactly what you want. And a lap dance isn't even sex. You can do it."   
  
Sami scowled down at the bill in her hands, "I still say this is ridiculous. If you're so into Lucas, why don't you get a lap dance from him?"   
  
"Maybe I will," Nicole mocked her, snatching the bill out of Sami's hands and she started to get to her feet. Sami grabbed the back of Nicole's shirt and yanked her back down into the chair angrily.   
  
"Sit down, bitch," Sami snarled, her eyes bright with what was undeniably jealousy, "You don't even like Lucas. What are you trying to do?"   
  
"I was trying to prove a point," Nicole smiled winningly at Sami and handed her the money once more, "I'd rather kill myself than let Lucas give me a lap dance-"   
  
"Let Lucas?" Sami snorted, "He hates you, Nicole. He certainly wouldn't be the willing one in that scenario. He would never do it."   
  
"I was just proving that you don't want some woman getting sexual favours from him, not even while he's on the job. Why don't you just go for it, you big baby? What are you scared of?"   
  
"Nothing!" Sami snapped.   
  
"Then do it." Nicole struck back, smirking at the agitated woman, "Or I'm going to come to the conclusion that you're just scared."   
  
"Come on, Sami," Jan prompted, "Here, I'll make you a deal. If you get Lucas to give you a lap dance, then I'll ask Phillip for one so you don't feel so alone."   
  
Nicole gave Jan a dirty look, "Get real, Jan. Even if Sami didn't get a lap dance from Lucas, you'd still want one from Phillip and you'd do everything you could to get one from him. Cut the crap."   
  
Jan shrugged, "Fine, you caught me. I guess it just proves that I have more guts than Sami ever will."   
  
"Okay, will all you of _quit it_?" Sami groaned and watched Lucas near their side of the club, "I'll do it. But not because I want to. I'm only doing it because I want to prove that I'm not 'scared' as you so ridiculously put it."   
  
Before any of them could speak, Sami stood up and joined the group of women waving bills around in the air. Lucas noticed her and for a minute, a look of confusion crossed his face but he sauntered over to her and took the bill from her hand, giving her a small jab with the pitchfork to disguise his uncertainty. He began walking away but sneaked a quick look at the bill. When he realized it wasn't his average ten or twenty dollar bill, he stopped in the middle of his routine. He turned back around and Sami was grateful for Phillip and Rex's appearances on stage so Lucas' actions weren't as noticeable. Following Nicole's instruction, Sami winked at him and gave him the biggest come-hither smile she could manage.   
  
Obviously it worked because Lucas came back over to the edge of the stage and extended his hand to Sami. Nicole whistled softly and nudged Sami pointedly.   
  
"I told you it would work," Nicole whispered in her ear, "What are you waiting for? Get up there!"   
  
Sami finally took his hand and he helped her onto the stage, unspoken questions still in his eyes.   
  
Nicole sighed with relief, "Thank God. Now maybe she'll stop being such a cranky bitch all the time."   
  
"Do you think Lucas is going to take a hundred bucks? Isn't that kind of low?" Jan asked doubtfully.   
  
"Maybe for more experienced strippers," Nicole replied with confidence, "But Phillip, Rex and Lucas are all new at this. They aren't going to expect that much, especially if it's from someone they already know. Besides, it Lucas and _Sami_. Have you seen the way they look at each other? As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Lucas tried to tell Sami that it was too _much_ money."   
  
A few seconds later, the song ended and Rex, Lucas, Phillip and Sami all walked off stage together. Mimi was still backstage and when she saw Sami, she looked at Lucas questioningly.   
  
"What's this about?" she asked.   
  
"I don't really know," Lucas unwrinkled the bill and held it out in front of Sami, "Are you planning on explaining this?" he asked and Mimi clamped her hand over her mouth when she saw the face of the bill. Sami couldn't really blame her. Sami had been pretty shocked to see that Nicole carried one hundred dollar bills around in her purse but then again, it was probably one of the things Nicole loved best about being Victor's widow.   
  
Sami crossed her arms over her chest, "You work here, you should know what someone's expectations are when they give you a hundred dollar bill. Why should I have to spell it out?"   
  
"Well, gee, I'm kind of still new to this so why don't you enlighten me just this once?" Lucas suggested sarcastically.   
  
Sami narrowed her eyes at him with challenge, secretly relieved that Phillip and Rex had gone off to the other side of the dressing room so they couldn't hear what she was about to ask, "I want a lap dance." she muttered.   
  
"What was that? A little louder this time, please." Lucas returned.   
  
"I said I want a lap dance." Sami said it louder this time, then silently waited for his response while she watched his eyes widened with shock. 


	15. Lose Yourself

Chapter Fifteen

  
  
**Author's Note: This chapter is dirty again. Thanks for all the reviews so far. And to answer your question, Jennifer Lockhart, of course you can borrow the edible body powder. It sounds like it'll be one hot Jennick fic, I can't wait to read it.**  
  
Mimi finally broke the tense silence with a small gasp, "Um... well, this has been a very interesting conversation but I think I'll leave you two alone to finish discussing this. How does that sound?" Without waiting for them to reply, she began walking away, her lipped pressed together to keep from smiling and her eyes shining with amusement at seeing Lucas' completely shocked expression.  
  
Lucas looked down at the bill in a daze, "You really gave me a hundred dollars so I'd give you a lap dance?" he asked, the pure amazement in his voice not hidden or obscured in any way.  
  
"Yes, that's what I said," Sami confirmed, impatiently waiting for Lucas to get over his initial shock and spring into action. But when Lucas looked up, his eyes were filled with defiance and anger, which was the last thing she had been expecting.  
  
"You can keep your money," he snarled, pushing the bill back into Sami's hands, "I'm not a whore, I don't want it."  
  
"If you're not a whore, then why are you working here?" Sami shot back. Disappointment welled up inside her but she tried to push it away and not let it rise to the surface where Lucas could see it.  
  
"Just because I work here does not mean I'm a whore," Lucas told her, "The dancing on stage is pretty much hands off. Therefore, I'm not like that."  
  
"You call that licking contest 'hand-offs'?" Sami mumbled.  
  
"I didn't hear any complaints during the contest," Lucas retorted, "In fact, you seemed pretty content with licking me."  
  
Sami stifled a groan, unable to believe they were back to this again, "Don't start changing the subject like that, Lucas. If you're too chicken to give me a lap dance, that's just fine, I'll leave. Obviously you've never done it before and you're afraid of being a disappointment, so you're making excuses to get out of it. Not that I care. You'd probably be awful at giving a lap dance anyway. I don't know why I came in here in the first place."  
  
Sami tried to walk past Lucas to leave the dressing room but he held onto her arm, face twisted into a scowl after her evident blow to his ego.  
  
"What are you doing, Lucas?" Sami asked innocently, actually knowing full well what he had in mind after her digs about his lap dancing abilities.  
  
"Come with me," his jaw was set stubbornly and he took her hand and began guiding her out of the dressing room, "If you want a lap dance, you're going to get one."  
  
"But the money-" Sami tried to give it back to him but he shrugged her extended hand away.  
  
"I said keep the money, dammit!" Lucas interrupted, "I don't want it."  
  
Sami gloated inwardly as Lucas continued leading her down a narrow hallway. _And that money isn't even mine. So, I'm pretty much getting paid to have Lucas give me a lap dance. This is turning out better than I had expected it to. _  
  
Lucas opened one of the doors in the hallway and he and Sami stepped inside the room. It was a pretty small, plain room and the only pieces of furniture were a chair and a table with a small stereo and a stack of CDs on top of it. Sami looked around the room warily, suddenly feeling more than a little nervous about being alone in such a small room with Lucas. Lucas did nothing to ease her distress as he locked the door and then turned around, still wearing nothing but that tight pair of red pants and those devil horns.  
  
"Bonnie told us we could use these back rooms for... stuff like this," Lucas finished, "This is actually the first time I've been in one of them."  
  
"I'm sure," Sami returned, her voice dripping with incredulity. Lucas flashed her a brief, annoyed look before speaking again.  
  
"Sit down, Sami," he instructed her, walking over to the stereo, "Any requests you want to make?" he gestured at the stack of CDs. Sami found herself desperately scrambling for some comment to come back with and said the first thing that popped into her mind.  
  
"Do you have any Eminem in there? He gets me so hot," Sami lied, her conversation with Crystal, Nicole and Jan obviously still fresh in her mind. Her remark about Eminem getting her hot had the desired effect on Lucas because he shot her an angry glare but obligingly returned to riffling through the CDs. He picked one out and inserted the CD into the stereo. The beginning strains of a faintly familiar song filled Sami's ears as Lucas approached her. She forgot to breathe when Lucas reached her and gently nudged her knees apart with his leg. He stepped between her parted thighs and her skirt rode up indecently high, threatening to expose her panties.  
  
_Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted  
One moment- Would you capture it? Or just let it slip? _  
  
For a moment, she felt painfully self-conscious of the way her dress was riding up so high but the self-consciousness immediately faded when Lucas began to move as soon as the beat of the music picked up.  
  
She would definitely have to retract what she had said about him being a pathetic lap dancer now. All that dancing on stage must have given him confidence and skill, because it was definitely paying off here. He moved his entire body along hers, his sinuous movements causing her heart rate to spike drastically. His hands grasped her hips and he pulled himself closer to her, pressing up against her body and sliding against her sensuously. Her skirt had ridden up to the point where she might as well have not been wearing it. But she was past caring, all she was thinking about was this man's hard body moving effortlessly along hers, like he had done this a hundred times before. But Sami knew he hadn't and that made this entire experience even more breathtaking.  
  
His muscles rippled as he moved and without warning, he leaned in toward her so his hot skin brushed against her mouth. Her back went rigid as his nipple grazed the edges of her lips and it took all of her willpower not to let her tongue dart out to taste him. Instead, she swallowed hard and pushed him away a little bit, still staring up at him in awe. Obviously amused by the fact he had gotten her so flustered, he let out a low chuckle and turned his back to her. 

She was almost hypnotized as she eyed the long, lean lines of his back while he pressed his ass back against her lower body. He swivelled his hips suggestively for a few moments, then his hands slid down his firm abdominal muscles and found the top of his pants. In record time, he slid the pants off and kicked them aside. Then he turned back around, letting her feast her eyes on every newly-uncovered inch of his body. He was still wearing his trademark g-string and the devil horns, but other than that, he was uncovered in every way possible.  
  
His hands skimmed up her bare arms as he pressed himself closer to her, undulating in time to the chorus of the song.  
  
_You better lose yourself in the music, the moment  
You own it, you better never let it go  
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow  
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime  
  
_Lucas didn't take his eyes off her as his hands went back to his waist and slowly slid off the g-string. It was enough to make Sami breathing become choppy and her heart rate speed up to incredible levels. Every inch of his shaft was mercilessly perfect and erect, not to mention so close to her she could take her hand and touch him. And God help her, that was exactly what she wanted to do. And Lucas knew it too. He closed the space between their heated bodies and before she could stop him, he was straddling her lap, continuing to move with the music. His adjusted their positions so his knees encased her hips and unable to resist, Sami ran the palms of her hands down his damp chest, then felt out every defined curve and hollow of his stomach. Lucas reached down and covered her hands with his as she continued caressing his stomach in an almost trance-like state.  
  
She looked up at his face and finally realized how well his costume fit him. With those very realistic horns on his forehead and his smoldering, sinfully dark eyes, it just worked for him. And for a blinding moment, Sami could truly believe he really was the devil because the look in his eyes alone was enough to set her clit aflame. And that was not even the slightest bit an exaggeration because she truly did feel like she was on fire. She knew she was the consistency of a very ripe peach at that moment- wet, soft and warm. And she was dying for Lucas to fill her again and again until all of this was out of her system permanently. The chorus of the song rang out again and the words spoke to Sami. She would touch him and wouldn't force herself to stop this time. Besides, she wanted to regain control. She wanted to make him moan first, she wanted him to scream her name, she wanted to see him lose himself.  
  
One of her hands slid down his stomach, still covered by Lucas' hand and she molded that hand around the velvety shaft that was throbbing hotly between his thighs. Upon that contact, Lucas jerked his hips and grinded harder into her, causing her hand to slide up and down him without her even having to move it. He rocked his hips against her harder, increasing the tempo of Sami's hand and the moan Sami had been wanting to hear escaped his lips. Her victorious smile went unnoticed by Lucas, who was gripping the back of the chair to keep both Sami's and his own balance. Sami's blood was nearing it's boiling point and he ground harder and faster against her, causing the rhythmic up and down motions of Sami's hand to pick up speed. She cupped him tighter, never breaking eye contact with him. She continued tightening her grip until Lucas felt like he was trapped in a vice and he actually _liked_ it. He could feel his release building up inside him and another moan escaped him as she rubbed his rigid length.  
  
Finally he closed his eyes and jerked his hips harder into her as his orgasm crested over him. He closed his eyes and let the after waves of pleasure fade away before finally opening his eyes to see the triumphant expression Sami was now wearing. The song came to an end as Lucas stared into Sami's proud face in silence.  
  
"Look what you did, Lucas," Sami scolded him, bringing one hand up to show him the 'mess' he had made almost tauntingly. Then, with the full intention of making him even hotter, she brought her fingers up to her mouth and slowly licked each one clean. She sucked on her last finger contentedly for a moment before looking at him expectantly, inwardly gloating at the sight of his mouth slightly open with shock.  
  
"Are you planning on getting off me any time soon?" she asked, her voice too breathless for her liking, secretly enjoying the feeling of his warm body weighing down on her.  
  
"Right," Lucas said, obviously still fighting off the aftershock of what had just happened. He got to his feet and Sami stood up as well, fighting back a snicker at the stupefied expression on his face.  
  
"Well, thanks for the lap dance," Sami said, purposely baiting him, "I think I'll get going now." she began counting to five in her head as she started walking away. She had only reached three when Lucas took hold of her arm and whirled her back around to face him. She had been expecting this so she watched him with challenge bright in her eyes.  
  
"You're not going anywhere after _that_," Lucas told her firmly, "I don't think we've finished our lap dancing session yet." he gave her flushed, disheveled appearance a quick once over and his lips curved into a hot, suggestive smile, "Nope, you're crazy if you think I'm finished with you, Sami Brady." he murmured, before seizing the sides of Sami's face in his hands and fusing their lips together in a searing kiss that almost knocked Sami right off her feet.


	16. Yogurt

Chapter Sixteen

  
  
The primal dance of their lips rubbing together was so hot, it was almost unbearable. But then again, everything about their current situation felt like it was edging along the lines of unbearable to Sami. But no matter how unbearable, she couldn't stop herself because she wanted it. She was a willing slave to what was happening and she was past the point of trying to stop it, despite the fact the every fibre of her being was telling her it was wrong. If she was being honest with herself, she would have to admit that she had lost control the minute Lucas had jumped on her lap wearing absolutely nothing. Moans and screams were clawing at her insides, dying to be unleashed but she forced them down, tensing against Lucas' agile body as he applied more pressure to her hungry mouth, forcing her lips apart and snaking his tongue into the hot opening.  
  
Sami felt her knees preparing to give away at the sensations Lucas was evoking within her. Stars danced behind her eyes and the thrumming sensation between her legs from all the pent up desire was going to kill her if she didn't get relief soon. Lucas had to pull her firmly against his chest and keep his arms wrapped around her body to ensure she didn't collapse and the kiss became more fierce, almost brutal. But Sami didn't want it to stop, instead she used her own mouth to wrestle with his, battling for control of the kiss with him. She tongue tangled with his and her teeth pulled on his bottom lip, melding their mouths together as closely as possible.  
  
Lucas finally tore his mouth away from Sami's and buried his face in her neck as sweat rained down on both of their bodies. He breathed hotly into her skin and felt her heave and shudder against him. His lips skimmed along the smooth, creamy skin of her throat, worshiping every sweet hollow and curve. He felt her raise her head and press into him and he let out a ragged breath. He moved one leg between hers so that it brushed against the burning skin between her very upper thighs. He then rubbed that leg against her sex and her body jerked wildly in response. The breathless moan his actions elicited from Sami spurred him on and he increased the pressure of his leg against her.  
  
He looked up to see her biting her lip to suppress a whimper and he had lower his head to nibble at her kiss-swollen lips to hide his smirk from her. It was his turn to be in control and both of them were fully aware of it. She had already made him cum and now it was her turn. As he imprisoned her lips again and, he lowered his hands to push her skirt and panties off her hips and down her shapely legs. As soon as he cupped her sex in his hand, her hips bucked and he could feel her arousal already beginning to drench his hand. Damn. He knew her well enough to know that she would go off like a roman candle if he got his mouth on her for five seconds. And that was exactly what he planned on doing, only he would make sure it lasted a lot longer than five seconds.  
  
He dropped to his knees and hooked his hands over the waistband of her skirt and panties, then slid them down the rest of the way. He was eye level with his goal now and he held her steady with both hands as he ran his tongue along her wet entrance before fastening his mouth on her and plunging his tongue inside her glistening center. A cry ripped from Sami's throat and he pulled his mouth off her to look up and see her moaning through tightly clenched teeth.  
  
"Oh, shit, Lucas," she ground out, her teeth still locked together. He placed a light kiss on one thigh and his breath was warm and gentle against her aching skin.  
  
"Sami, it's okay," he whispered, feeling her whole body become wracked with shudders, "Just relax."  
  
When Sami quieted down and her shudders decreased, Lucas returned his attention to her wet core. His mouth found the distended bud at the top of her sex and as the tip of his tongue grazed it, he could hear her sharp intake of breath. His tongue flicked over it again, more roughly this time and she gasped. He resisted the urge to smile victoriously and dragged his tongue along her wet heat, then drew his mouth away.  
  
"Mmm... you're so wet, Sami." he murmured, so softly she could barely make out his words, "You taste so good. God, I've missed you."  
  
Without waiting for her to say anything in response, he scraped his teeth over her clit and her hips shot forward, pushing the throbbing nub into his mouth. He bit down lightly and he felt another huge shudder tear through her body. He could feel her losing all control, he knew exactly how close she was to the edge. He continued to tongue the hot skin, at the same time bringing his fingers into play.  
  
Sami tried helplessly to put a stop to the tremors assaulting her entire body as Lucas continued plunging his fingers in and out of her in a slow, steady rhythm while his mouth worked its magic a little higher. She had to work extra hard to suppress the screams building up inside her as Lucas increased the pressure of his tongue on her and as his fingers delved deeper inside her quivering tunnel. She thrashed her head from side to side and if Lucas wasn't still holding her upright with one hand, she would have fallen to the ground a long time ago. She couldn't stop the words spilling from her mouth as the tension ascended to an insufferable point.  
  
"Oh, holy _fuck_," she cried, in the back of her mind praying that this room was sound-proof. She let out another loud cry as all the tension inside her snapped and her orgasm went thundering through her. She was still panting heavily as Lucas got to his feet and smiled at her.  
  
"Well, now that we're even, I guess you can leave, Sami. It was fun," he taunted her and he watched her eyes almost immediately darken with anger. Lucas smirked as he watched her struggle to find her voice through her rage. It was incredibly fun to see her get a taste of her own medicine after she had tried to walk away from him after their lap dance. Maybe now she would realize that it wasn't fun to be brushed off.  
  
She still didn't reply so Lucas waved a hand at the door, still grinning at her, "The door's that way, sweetheart. Hope you enjoyed yourself."  
  
Her eyes sparked with fury and she finally spoke, "You are such a bastard." she hissed, "And a prick. _And_ an asshole."  
  
Lucas smirked at her and leaned back against the chair, "Now you're just trying to turn me on." his lowered his eyes to look down at his lower body, then looked back up at her with a suggestive smirk, "Not that you really need to."  
  
Sami followed his previous gaze and her eyes widened, "Again? Already? You're kidding!"  
  
Lucas held back a chuckle at her reaction, finding it hard to believe she had already forgotten that he could regain his stamina this quickly. Of course, it did feel like an eternity since they had last made love and this _had_ been fast, even for him. But the fact that he could practically get himself hard on command was definitely an advantage for him. It had been a real eye-opener when he found out that not every man could do what he could do. He thought every man was supposed to be able to reload ten plus times a night no problem. But clearly, he was one of the lucky few whose 'refractory period' was incredibly short, it not totally nonexistent. Yeah, chafing could be a pain in the pass sometimes but it was definitely worth it.  
  
"But how?" Sami stammered, trying to back away and nearly tripped over her skirt and panties, which were still tangled around her ankles. _Oh, that was brilliant, Sami_, she thought disdainfully, _First, ask stupid questions and then trip over your own feet and land on your ass. That's definitely the way to go. _  
  
Lucas shrugged, "How should I know? If you, uh, if you asked a fish how it swims, do you think it would be able to give you an answer?"  
  
"No," Sami squeaked out, her body suffering from a sensory overload again. Seeing him hard and ready for her again was making her hot and wet all over again, despite the mind-numbing orgasm she had just had. It felt like flames had ignited in her veins and had worked their way through her entire blood steam. Her eyes burned and her body still throbbed, aching for more of him. The insistent and consecutive bolts of lust rocketing through her had almost completely clouded all of her perception. She wanted to feel him bury himself inside of her. She wanted it rough and dirty. Hard and fast. Frenzied and reckless. And she wanted it now.  
  
She stood in front of him, still naked from the waist down but she didn't even care anymore. She captured his lips with hers and forcefully pushed her tongue past his lips. His tongue fought with hers expertly and he began to tug at her shirt, which was one of the last articles of clothing covering either of their bodies. He wrenched it off and he dragged his mouth down to stroke her nipple with his tongue through the thin material of her bra. Her low moan brought his head back up so he met her eyes.  
  
"If you want this to stop before it goes any further, now would be a good time to leave." he rasped, withdrawing his hands from her body. Sami stared at him in horror and her fingers curled into his chest, not even denting the hard skin.  
  
"I'm not going to leave after all that," Sami used his words from earlier to respond, "You're going to finish what you're started or I'll make you pay." She pressed against him so that her wetness met his hardness and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from groaning.  
  
"I want you so much," he managed to get out, his voice husky.  
  
"Then take me," came Sami's equally breathless reply, "I'm right here."  
  
Like Sami, the rest of Lucas' restraint finally gave away and he plunged into her fiercely. He had a hold on her from behind and he slid in and out of her with the speed and intensity of his thrusts increasing each time, a man lost in paradise. Nothing felt as good as this did, the friction of Sami's body rubbing against his, her feminine walls tightening and convulsing around him. She was scalding him as her tight heat hugged him within her, engulfing him. He knew the feeling of being inside her would quickly his undoing and he knew it wouldn't be long before he came, screaming her name as he did.

* * *

Nicole and Crystal crept down the back hallway, looking around to see if anyone had come back and caught them yet. Crystal pressed her ear against one of the doors and her eyes lit up.  
  
"I think they're in here," Crystal whispered, trying the door handle and she scowled when she realized it was locked, "It sounds like Sami."  
  
Nicole looked at Crystal expectantly, "Well, is she getting a lap dance or not?" Nicole hissed.  
  
Crystal shook her head, "Nah, I think they've moved on past the lap dancing stage."  
  
"Great, now we only have one more person to check on to make sure they followed up on their dare," Nicole responded, walking away from the door briskly and checking all the other doors for sounds that indicated Jan and Phillip were inside the room. She finally reached the right door and smiled.  
  
"Jackpot," Nicole whispered, checking the door and when she realized no one had bothered locking it, she smiled dryly, "It figures that Sami and Lucas would be a million times more cautious than Phillip and Jan. Crystal, you check and make sure they're doing it. I can't look, it's my stepson."  
  
"Oh, that's right," Crystal eyes were filled with disbelief at Nicole's explanation, "You only go after your step-_grand_sons. How could I forget?" Rolling her eyes, Crystal stepped up to the door and peeked inside. Before either Jan or Phillip could spot her, she closed the door again with a soft click.  
  
"Jan is definitely getting a lap dance." Crystal informed Nicole, "And from the looks of things, it was one hell of a lap dance."  
  
"Really? Well, good for them. I didn't think both of them could pull it off, especially not Sami," Nicole added with a snort. She was about to say something else with Shawn Brady came striding into the hallway, looking mildly distracted by something. Nicole's mouth dropped open at the sight of the man roaming free instead of in Jan's cage. He walked towards them and reached them almost before Nicole had a chance to regain her composure.  
  
"Shawn!" Nicole exclaimed, not even having to fake the surprise in her voice, "When did you get back? It's been such a long time since anyone has seen you?"  
  
Shawn smiled faintly at Nicole, not wanting to go into details with her. The first things he had done the night before were visit his father and Belle. The news about his mother had hit him hard but he refused to believe she was dead until there was solid evidence. He gave his dad a pitiful excuse for his absence and then had left to see Belle. When he had seen her, she had immediately began yelling at him for being such a rotten boyfriend and then had proceeded to tell him he had a lot to make up to her before things could go back to normal. His conversation with Belle had left him feeling drained and somewhat annoyed with Belle. But it came as a shock to him that he wasn't more happy about being reunited with his girlfriend. Eventually, he had come to the conclusion that it was Jan's fault for humiliating and kicking him out of the cage without a good reason. He wanted to find out exactly what had made her kick him out, in hopes that it would take the sting out of the terrible humiliation and allow him to get his relationship back on track with Belle.  
  
"I've been places," Shawn answered vaguely, looking at the rows of doors, "Do you guys know where Jan is? Rex said he saw her come back here with... _Phillip_."  
  
Nicole raised an eyebrow, noticing the way Shawn had practically spat out Phillip's name, "Jan's in there. But you probably shouldn't go in."  
  
"Why not?" Shawn demanded, looking at the door impatiently.  
  
"Because it's full of penises!" Crystal blurted out, "That squirt... yogurt!"  
  
"Thank you for the pleasant images you have just put in my head, Crystal." Nicole returned sarcastically, then turned to gauge Shawn's reaction.  
  
"That's okay, I love yogurt," Shawn replied, seeming to miss the innuendo completely, "I really need to talk to her." Without another word, he brushed past them to go inside the room, then shut the door behind him.  
  
"He was kidding, right?" Crystal checked with Nicole, "Or does he really like _that_ kind of yogurt?"  
  
Nicole shrugged, "You never know with him. Maybe he does. He probably likes penises too. No wonder Jan let him go."  
  
"Well, all I can say about that is, I hope Shawn doesn't try to steal Phillip's yogurt from Jan once he gets in there." Crystal burst out laughing at her own words and Nicole couldn't resist giggling at the situation Crystal's words conjured up herself as the two of them began walking down the hall, making their way back towards their seats. 


	17. Rejected Part Two

Chapter Seventeen

  
  
After turning around to see Phillip and Jan, an arrow of shock sliced through Shawn's body, momentarily paralyzing him. In the center of the room, there they were, all over each other, their hands roaming along each other's bodies, their mouths inches apart and Phillip sitting right on Jan's _lap_. Now he understood why Jan had let him go and he realized that almost _any_ other possibility wouldn't have pissed him off as badly as this did. He was kicking himself for not seeing this coming, he should have, especially after Jan had constantly mentioned Phillip once she had seen him stripping at the club. That had secretly annoyed him but this... this was a million times worse.  
  
It amazed him when he suddenly came to the conclusion that he had actually liked Jan's attention. He had liked seeing all the devotion in her eyes channeled towards him, he had been proud of the fact that she had loved him so much that she had locked him in that ridiculous cage to get him to return her feelings. He had liked seeing her to do everything in her power to get him to love her, in some dark recess of his mind, he had enjoyed every twisted second of it. But now it was all ruined and there was no one more at fault than Phillip Kiriakis.  
  
It seemed almost unbelievable that Shawn had once considered the g-string clad man in front of him his best friend. After everything that had went on during the past few months, Shawn didn't want to be Phillip's friend. Phillip had stabbed him in the back, Phillip had tried to steal Belle's love from him and now he was taking all of Jan's attention by throwing his body around and using his physical assets to get to Jan. It was more than just a coincidence that Phillip had diverted his attention from Belle to Jan at the same time Shawn had. Phillip was doing it on purpose and Shawn had no intention of letting the double-crossing bastard get away with it. Now that he was out of that cage, he would do everything he could to drag Jan out of Phillip's clutches.  
  
To add insult to injury, Phillip and Jan still hadn't even noticed Shawn was in the room. Gnashing his teeth together furiously, he marched across the room and flicked off the stereo which had been blaring loudly seconds before. Almost as if pulled out of some kind of trance, Phillip and Jan's heads snapped up and they looked at Shawn. Phillip practically fell off Jan's lap after seeing Shawn and immediately got off of Jan.  
  
"Oh my God, you mean you finally decided to come back?" Phillip exclaimed, still eyeing Shawn with surprise, "Where have you been, Shawn? Everyone has been worried sick about you."  
  
"Like I'd tell you," Shawn narrowed his eyes angrily, "You probably wanted me to stay as far away from Salem as possible so you could take over everything that was _mine_. As far as I'm concerned, my life is none of your business anymore."  
  
Phillip cocked his eyebrows upwards, "What's getting you so worked up? I never tried to take anything that was yours. What gave you that idea?"  
  
"Don't play dumb!" Shawn bellowed, "You tried to move in on Belle while I was gone and don't even try to deny it because I saw everything. And now you're trying to steal my place in everyone's lives." Shawn made sure to avoid eye contact with Jan as spoke but there was something in his voice that let Jan know he meant her. A rush of triumph washed over her and she had to press her lips together to keep the victorious smile off her face. Her plan was already working. After Phillip had put the moves on Belle while Shawn was stuck in the cage, Shawn grown increasingly resentful of Phillip. And after realizing that Jan had given Shawn up for Phillip, there was no way Shawn's pride would allow him to let Phillip take Jan without a fight. Her scheme was pulling together even better than she had expected it to.  
  
"Shawn, I don't know what you're talking about," Phillip scowled at the agitated man, "I was nothing more than a friend to Belle, which is a lot more than I can say for you. You weren't there for Belle at all, as a boyfriend or as a friend. If she isn't taking you back without making you beg, then I can't blame her. You don't deserve to win her back easily after the crap you put her through."  
  
"I'm not talking about Belle," Shawn fumed, his eyes wide with anger, "Stop pretending you're completely innocent. You're guilty as hell and you know it. You're trying to take everything away from me and I was supposed to be your _best friend_! But I'm not going to let it happen so screw you, Phillip!"  
  
Shawn lunged at Phillip wildly, his fists clenched tightly in front of him. He took a swing at Phillip's head but Shawn was so hysterical that Phillip easily ducked out of the way. Shawn jerked forwards from the momentum of the missed shot and it took him a few seconds to regain his balance. Once he was back on his feet, he looked ready to explode and his breaths were coming out in short, fast spurts.  
  
Phillip shook his head in disgust, "Once a hothead, always a hothead," he muttered, "I don't know what the hell is wrong with you. You can't keep lashing out at people that care about you for the hell of it. If you keep doing shit like this, if you keep treating everyone like garbage and alienating yourself from your friends, you're not going to have anyone left."  
  
"If I don't have anyone left, it will be your fault, _not mine_!" Shawn roared, "And stop acting like you care about me! You don't want me to be happy, you aren't my friend! You're so jealous of me, you can't see straight. You wanted to have everything I did, you wanted them to want you instead of me. You want what I have but you can't have it, I won't let you!"  
  
"Shawn, stop yelling," Jan ordered him, finally jumping into the conversation, "You're not making any sense at all. Maybe you should go somewhere else so you can cool off."  
  
"Jan, how can you talk to me like this?" Shawn's eyes burned into her with accusation, "How can you do this with Phillip? Can't you just come with me for a while? I need to talk to you about something."  
  
Jan took a deep breath, fighting off the urge to agree to go with him. She had to stick to the plan and besides, she was kind of irritated with Shawn for ruining her lap dancing session with Phillip. Jan still wanted the hot, sexual no-strings attached fling with Phillip she was trying to make happen before she married Shawn. She knew it would drive Shawn crazy and besides, she did think Phillip was very sexy and she wanted to take his mind of Belle, temporarily if not permanently. It would be killing three birds with one stone- ultimately winning over Shawn, making Belle miserable and enjoying herself in the meantime.  
  
"Sorry, babe, but that ship has sailed. Why don't you get your whipped ass back over to Belle's apartment before you make her cry?" Jan suggested, proud of the conviction her words carried.  
  
"I don't _want to_!" Shawn's voice raised with each word he said until he was shouting again.  
  
Jan patted his shoulder sympathetically, "I know how much you hate coming in second to Phillip. But you can only blame yourself. Maybe if you weren't such a jackass all the time, you could hold onto a woman."  
  
"You don't mean that," Shawn's gaze pierced her but she forced herself to her voice cold and low as she replied.  
  
"I do. And I feel really horrible for you, Shawn. It must be hard living in Phillip's shadow but it's easy to see why you do," Jan knew those words would cut him to the quick and the humiliation and hurt on his face made her want to immediately retract the words but she held her ground. Shawn just stared at her in utter silence before shooting one last furious look in Phillip's direction and storming out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.  
  
Phillip sighed and sat down in the chair Jan had been occupying before, "Sorry that Shawn came in here and interrupted us like that. I swear, I haven't been able to figure that guy out at all for the past few months."  
  
Jan shrugged and walked up next to the chair, "I'm sure he would make a lot more sense if he didn't always fly off the handle like that. I don't think he even knows what he wants," she tried to push away the feelings of guilt surfacing after her harsh words to Shawn. _You had to do it, Jan_, she told herself, _Without using tough love, he'll never respect you and appreciate you for loving him the way you do._ Trying to keep her voice light, she pretended to be offended as she spoke to Phillip, "But you better make it up to me, you idiot. I can't believe you didn't lock the door."  
  
"Oh, I'll do my best, Jan," Phillip smirked at her and tugged on her shirt until she landed in his lap with an unladylike thud. Jan giggled as he nuzzled his mouth against her neck.  
  
"My hero," she cooed sarcastically, causing Phillip to pull his head up to give her a mock glare.  
  
"Geez, Jan, you've got such a smart mouth. Why not try putting it good use for a change?" without letting her respond, his mouth took hers and his arms gathered her up and pulled her closer to him. His heated breath tickled the inside of her mouth as he pressed his lips against hers. His tongue circled the contours of her mouth and the deliciously sensual teasing was enough to take her mind off of Shawn Brady completely. His kiss somehow managed to rock her all the way to the tips of her toes and she pushed her own hungry mouth back against his with equal force. Phillip laced his fingers through her dark mass of curls, then began trailing his way down her spine, his fingertips digging into the soft flesh of her back. The friction of his lips rubbing against hers was amazing, it was driving her more crazy than kissing Shawn ever had. But maybe it was because Phillip had initiated the kiss, because Phillip had wanted to kiss her instead of it being like it was with Shawn- who tried to make it look like her touch did nothing for him.  
  
Phillip nibbled and suckled on her lips, slowly teasing them apart until she opened beneath his mouth. He delved into every hollow and cavity of her mouth, stroking her the silky, wet skin inside her mouth until Jan thought she would fall apart under his skillful caresses. Finally, his mouth left hers and she inhaled and exhaled deeply, gradually regaining her composure.  
  
"Phillip, I want you," Jan breathed. But when Phillip's eyes closed and he leaned back down to kiss her again, she pressed her fingers against his lips to stop him. His eyes opened and he looked at her in confusion, "But not here. I don't want to risk there being anymore interruptions from anyone. I want to have you alone, all to myself, somewhere where no one will get in our way."  
  
Phillip inhaled sharply as Jan's fingernails lightly traced a path down his abdominal muscles, "I would love that." his voice was low and husky, "And I guess for the time being, I should get back out there before Bonnie comes looking for me. Where do you want to meet?"  
  
Jan smiled coyly at him, "I can take you back to my country house after you finish here," she told him, a plan already forming in her mind, "Or will you be too worn out by then?"  
  
"Does that mean the activities you have planned for us are going to require a lot of energy?" Phillip grinned, "I like the sound of that. And to answer your question, no, I won't be too tired."  
  
"Good," Jan pulled herself off of his lap and smiled at him as she straightened out her hair and clothing, "I guess I'll see you then."

* * *

"You didn't have to leave the club early," Sami told Lucas as he unlocked the door to his apartment, "This could have waited."  
  
Lucas pushed open the door and turned to look at Sami earnestly, "I didn't want it to wait any longer. I think this whole thing has building up ever since the night you..." _The night you spanked me_, the words surfaced in his mind but he pushed them away, "The night you tried to convince me to quit my job. Besides, I want to make sure you're okay after what happened back there."  
  
"Of course I'm okay," Sami lied, truthfully still shaken by the unexpected turn of events tonight, "I asked for a lap dance and that was what I got. I'm fine with that."  
  
"It was a lot more than lap dance," Lucas pointed out, "Look, I don't understand why you asked for a lap dance after you told me you didn't want anything to happen between us again but I couldn't bring myself to say no. I wasn't thinking about the aftermath, I was just thinking about you. And how much I wanted to touch you, to be inside you again."  
  
"There doesn't have to be an aftermath," Sami replied stubbornly, feeling like one big, gooey mess inside, "We can both stay in our respective apartments, out of each other's ways and pretend it didn't happen."  
  
"Dammit, Sami, no!" Lucas plunked himself down on the couch, "I don't want to forget, okay? It meant something. Didn't you feel it? Couldn't you _tell_ how much I wanted you? Can't you see how much I still want you now? And I know you wanted me too."  
  
"What's your point?" Sami asked, shifting nervously and not making a move to sit down. It was already taking all of her self-control not to run from his apartment, so even trying to sit down would probably be useless.  
  
"I don't see why we should put a stop to it now," Lucas explained, "I think we have every reason to, you know, give it a try for a while."  
  
"I'm not going to date a stripper," Sami informed him coldly.  
  
"I didn't say anything about dating," seeing Sami's confused expression, Lucas quickly elaborated, "I just thought we could have a trial run, let things play out like they did tonight. Maybe two weeks or something. Do you get what I'm saying?"  
  
Sami nodded, "So, if we just give in to... wanting each other for a little while, we can get it out of our systems, right? We're trying to take the edge off wanting each other so it isn't so hard to stop ourselves from losing control."  
  
"Exactly," Lucas returned as Sami came over at and sat down next to him on the couch.  
  
"So, it's just sex?" Sami managed to get out, a part of her wanting to scream and throw a tantrum in protest. It wasn't just sex, she loved him. If he would just quit his God damn job, it wouldn't have to be like this.  
  
"Just sex," Lucas affirmed, his voice cracking as he spoke.  
  
"Fine," Sami murmured, her hands twining around the back of his neck to keep herself from thinking about all the frustrating situation she had put herself in, "Two weeks, starting now." 


	18. Dirty Garage Sex

Chapter Eighteen 

  
  
**Author's Note: This chapter is all Phan but Lumi will be back in chapter nineteen. And this chapter is very smutty and involves nipple clamps (yeah, they played such a big role in SOTF that I finally decided to use them ), so for anyone who is offended by any of this, I'll have the next chapter up... soon. But this chapter has taken me forever to write because my darling mother won't leave me alone. And she's making me really cranky so I blame her for how much this chapter sucks. Someone kill me now. Meow. Oh, and I'm very sorry to disappoint everyone who wanted to see Phillip in the cage but Phillip doesn't get to go in the cage . Which brings me to...  
  
Disclaimer: Jan's garage is not mine. Yeah, that sounds really dumb but you'll see what I mean. It was created by Jennifer Lockhart, she was just nice enough to let me borrow it for this story .  
  
**Jan and Phillip stepped out of Jan's car and started towards her country home after Phillip's shift at Unzipped had ended. Phillip began heading in the direction of the front door to the house but Jan seized his arm and gave him an almost devious smile.  
  
"We don't need to go in there," she told him, her voice low and dripping with suggestion. Phillip frowned and looked from the front door of the house to Jan with confusion in his eyes.  
  
"Then where are we..." Phillip's voice trailed off as Jan pulled him over to the small door next to the larger, sliding door of the garage, "Oh, I see. And I hate to tell you this but dirty garage sex has never been my idea of a good time."  
  
"Then I guess I'll have to teach you to be more open-minded," Jan teased, unlocking the door and stepping inside the garage. She shut and locked it behind her, then flicked on the lights. Inwardly gloating at Phillip's open-mouthed, shocked expression, she giggled and walked into the center of the garage and smiled expectantly at him, "What do you think? Will you give dirty garage sex a chance? For me?"  
  
Phillip swallowed hard and it took him a few moments to find his voice, "Well, this garage doesn't look very dirty to me. It's actually quite clean. In fact, it doesn't look much like a garage at all. It looks like a..."  
  
"Sex toyshop?" Jan finished for him proudly.  
  
"Pretty much," Phillip eyed some of the torture items around the room apprehensively before his gaze came to rest on a large pit near the middle of the garage. He walked over to the pit and peered into it, wrinkling his nose when he saw the shimmering, somewhat slimy substance covering the bottom and sides of the pit, "Wow, an oil wrestling pit. What do use that for?"  
  
Jan's cheeks grew hot and it wasn't just from embarrassment. Remembering how much visual enjoyment this pit had once brought her was enough to get her hot all over again, "Oh, that's not for anything specific." Jan answered evasively. _I didn't exactly lie_, Jan reminded herself, _It isn't for anything specific. Anything goes in there as I'm sure four certain guys can attest to. _  
  
"You aren't planning on using it tonight, are you?" Phillip asked skeptically, then shot more horrified looks at some of the other items in the garage, "Or some of this other stuff?"  
  
"I want to use as much of it as possible." Jan responded cheerfully, "I hardly ever get an opportunity to use all these toys, so I want to make the most of this night."  
  
"Right," Phillip nodded uncertainly, silently promising himself to do everything he could to keep Jan so distracted that she'd forget all about the toys in the garage.  
  
Jan winked at Phillip, enjoying the palpable nervous emanating from him. She began walking backwards towards the small curtain in the corner of the garage. When Phillip tried to follow her, she shook her head at him, "Wait there. I'll be out in a minute." Without another word, she ducked behind the curtain and turned to the rack of outfits she kept there for 'emergencies'. As she sifted through the rack of lacy items that barely qualified as clothing they were so skimpy, Jan tried to guess what Phillip's reaction would be. Shawn had never paid very much attention to her outfits but maybe Phillip would appreciate a girl dressing up for him. He certainly couldn't be any worse than Shawn.  
  
She finally selected one outfit off the rack and smiled approvingly at her choice. She quickly undressed, stepped into the corset and pulled it into place. She looked down at the tiny scrap of clothing she had poured herself into and her smile widened. The midnight blue number was perfect for her night with Phillip, down to it's g-string back and the snaps below the waist that could be unsnapped to reveal what was hopefully Phillip's ultimate goal. Above the snaps were tiny silver buttons, glinting like jewels against the dark fabric. The corset was strapless and sheer lace topped off the outfit, allowing the beginnings of her areolae to peek through provocatively. She quickly retrieved a matching pair of silky stockings and strapped on three-inch heels.  
  
She bit her lip as she looked down at her outfit, silently reminding herself to get a mirror rigged up inside this tiny dressing room. She wondered if Phillip would enjoy seeing a girl dressed up like a real whore for him. Shawn hadn't seemed to like it that much. But then again, Jan was still convinced that Shawn just needed training. Training she was willing to give. But pushing aside thoughts of Shawn and focusing on Phillip, Jan pushed open the curtain and stepped outside to find Phillip leaning against the large pole in the center of the garage, right next to the oil wrestling pit. She watched his eyes widen when he saw her and immediately knew she couldn't have made a better choice.  
  
For the second time in one night, Jan had Phillip completely awestruck. The outfit clung to every curve perfectly and made her look as streamlined as an hourglass. Her supple breasts were practically spilling over the tight corset and the high heels and stockings were the perfect touch. She looked sexy as hell and from the self-satisfied look on her face, Phillip could tell that she knew it.  
  
"You look amazing," Phillip managed to get out, his chest tight as he looked at her. Her eyes lit up at his words and from the expression on her face, Phillip would have thought he had just asked for her hand in marriage rather than simply giving her a compliment she deserved.  
  
"Really?" she asked, almost as if she was fishing for more compliments.  
  
Phillip nodded and took a few steps forward until he could brush his hand along the buttons of the bodice, "More amazing than anything else in this entire garage. I don't see why we need to use any of this other stuff when you look so incredible."  
  
Jan gave him a knowing look, "Are you afraid of my little toys, Phillip?"  
  
"Of course not," Phillip protested as her vixen eyes glowed wickedly, "I'm afraid of what you want to do with the toys. I mean, in a room like this, I don't think I'd want to be alone in here with my own brother, let alone you."  
  
"Which brother? Rex or Lucas?" Jan asked.  
  
Phillip frowned, "Not that it matters but neither. Well, Rex hates my guts. He'd probably run around trying to pinch me with those nipple clamps or something."  
  
Jan looked over her shoulder and then strutted over to the metal clamps he had pointed out. She picked them up, then turned and began advancing on Phillip, who backed up until he crashed into the pole behind him, "You don't like my clamps?" Jan pretended to be hurt, "Come on, Phillip, I'm not going to kill you. Look, just trust me tonight, okay? I can't guarantee what I'm going to do to you isn't going to hurt but I can guarantee that both of us will enjoy it." she let her words sink in, then spoke again, "Do I have your complete cooperation?"  
  
Phillip didn't respond for a few seconds but finally nodded in agreement. Jan felt her heart rate speed up and raised her face so that their lips hovered only centimeters apart, "I think I'll start by getting you naked." she whispered, then brought their lips together as she began tugging at his shirt. She lifted the t-shirt up and broke off their kiss so she could pull it off of him but as soon as she shirt was off, her lips were back on his, so hot and hungry that they almost hurt. Her tongue swiped at his lips before she moved her lips down to his chest. She smoothed her tongue across the hard point of one nipple before running her lips across to find the other one. She moved down the taut lines of his stomach, lowering herself to her knees as she kissed her way down his body, leaving faint trails of moisture in her wake. She pressed her lips against the skin below his navel as her hands began unbuttoning his jeans. Once she had the jeans off, her eyes lit up when she saw that he was still wearing a g-string, although his one was black instead of red.  
  
Jan sat on her knees, just admiring his g-string, almost reluctant to take it off. But finally she slowly lowered the g-string, unveiling the one part of Phillip's anatomy she had never seen.  
  
Phillip had hoped Jan would continue her little kissing game all the way down his body but to his disappointment, she got to her feet and stepped away from him. Her gaze burned him to the core as she slowly took in every inch of him so intensely that he could almost feel her eyes caressing the lines of his body. He barely managed to suppress a groan when her eyes left him and she hurried past him.  
  
"Don't move," she told him, picking up a handful of chains and slinging them over her shoulder. Once she was back, she took hold of Phillip's wrists and pulled them together behind the large pole Phillip was standing against. Working quickly, she bound his wrists together with the chains, then grabbed a longer chain and began circling his body with it. Once she had him fastened to the pole and the chain spiraled from his feet to his upper chest, she secured the chains and looked up at Phillip for confirmation.  
  
"Is it too tight?" she checked, still gripping the chains uncertainly.  
  
"No," Phillip squirmed a little bit against the pole, realizing that Jan had absolute control over him now and there was nothing he would be able to do to stop her, "What are you going to do now?" In an answer to his question, Jan picked up the nipple clamps she had previously left while getting the chains. Phillip's eyes widened and his chains rattled as he tried to loosen them.  
  
He laughed nervously as Jan fiddled with the small items, "You're not actually going to use those are you? You're just kidding, right?"  
  
The look on Jan's face was a cross between amusement, desire and condensation, "Aw, Phillip, I would have expected this from someone like Shawn but not you. You'll like it, I promise."  
  
Phillip decided not to bother protesting anymore but Jan moved so quickly, she wouldn't have even allowed him time for any more objections. Suddenly, one clamp was around his left nipple and in an incredibly short amount of time, Jan had the second clamp on his right nipple. Phillip started at the sudden sensations the clamps had invoked once they had come into contact with his skin. For the most part, he had been expecting it but it still had jarred him for one heart-stopping moment. He felt Jan tighten the clamp around his already overly-stimulated nipples and he felt his heart stop for another second. Obviously, the novelty of the clamps' effects had yet to wear down. But the coldness of the metal pressed harshly against his skin wasn't just jarring, it was kind of thrilling when you got used to it. With the shock came an unexpected pleasure, which had been the last thing Phillip had expected to feel. And Jan continued to tighten the clamps little by little, testing his limits, seeing how far she could push him.  
  
After tightening the clamps slightly for about the fourth time, Jan heard Phillip gasp and her hands stilled so that they lingered on his chest while she eyed him questioningly.  
  
"Is this too much?" she asked cautiously, hoping Phillip wouldn't want her to take the clamps off. Seeing her favourite toys attached to Phillip's hard, sexy nipples was enough to give her very racy dreams every night for at least a month.  
  
"No, it's fine. It's really intense but intense is good. And I guess it wouldn't kill me if you tightened them a little bit," Phillip added wryly, embarrassed about his initial reaction to the nipple clamps.  
  
"I knew you'd like them!" Jan squealed gleefully, gently tugging on the chain at the end of the clamps, "You better trust me about this kind of thing next time."  
  
As Jan applied more pressure to the metal objects, Phillip retracted his previous opinion about nipple clamps completely. They weren't weird or painful or scary or uncomfortable. They actually felt pretty good and they had managed to awaken nerve cells Phillip hadn't even known had existed. And they had done a great job of making other parts of his body throb wildly as well, parts of him that were dying for Jan's attention, save the clamps.  
  
"I need to you to touch me," Phillip murmured, jerking his hips forward as much as possible to make himself clear. Jan's eyes trailed downwards and her eyes brightened as she looked at his swollen shaft.  
  
"Okay," she said brightly, leaving the nipple clamps for a 'toy' that suddenly seemed so much more desirable. Lowering herself to her knees, she ran her manicured finger across the rock hard flesh and listened the moans Phillip was unsuccessfully trying to suppress above her. She used her hand to explore every inch of the enticing toy in front of her but her hand wasn't exactly what she wanted to use on him.  
  
"You know, Phillip," Jan lifted her head to smirk at him, "My mommy always told me not to put toys in my mouth but I think I'll have to make an exception tonight. Did you know I've wanted to do this since the first time I saw you on the stage at Unzipped?"  
  
"Then by all, means, don't force yourself to wait another second." Phillip replied, wriggling (well, as much as he could wriggle while bound the pole) in anticipation.  
  
Jan didn't hesitate before obliging and began bathing every inch of his pulsating member with her warm, wet tongue, her head bobbing up and down to give every part of him equal attention. A low moan escaped Phillip's lips as Jan's tongue travelled up the underside of his aching cock and the moan deepened as she lightly pressed her lips against the very tip of his length. Then she began to swirl her tongue around the head of his shaft but still didn't take him fully into her mouth.  
  
"Jesus, Jan, please," he begged her, managing to thrust his hips enough to push himself past her lips. Once her warm mouth engulfed him, he had to bite back another groan and his head rolled back to hit the pole. She continued sliding her mouth down, taking more of him in until almost every inch of his erect length was swallowed up inside her mouth. He looked down at her and watched her move her mouth hungrily along him, stopping to lick along the solid length every now and then before popping him back into her mouth like a little kid with a lollipop. If she had been lacking skill, which she definitely wasn't, she would have made up for it with her seemingly endless amount of enthusiasm. Her cheeks went concave as she drew him into her mouth again, applying so much suction she practically caused him to lose his load right then and there. And he didn't want that yet. Jan was pure sex and to be in her, he wanted to feel more than just her mouth around him.  
  
"Jan, I think you should unchain me now," Phillip managed to get out and Jan looked up at him skeptically and he tried to make himself look stern, "On second thought, it's not a request."  
  
"Ooh, I'm shaking," Jan replied sarcastically.  
  
"You know you are," Phillip struggled against the chains, "You're shaking because you want me that bad. Just unchain me and I'll let you have it."  
  
Jan pulled lightly on the chain attached to the nipple clamps again and seemed to consider her options. After a minute, she grinned at him, "I guess I can let you out of the chains for a _little_ while. But you better make it worth it for me."  
  
"I'll try," Phillip assured her as she set to work on removing the chains from his body. They finally fell apart and slid off his body onto the ground. As soon as he was free, Phillip pulled Jan against him and covered her mouth with his, his tongue quickly darting out to find its way into her mouth. He continued to orally assault her mouth while moving forward with her in his arms until he reached a large, metal table. Phillip helped lift Jan onto the table and climbed onto the table after her, which creaked under their weight. As soon as they were both on the table Phillip raised one eyebrow and looked down at the table.  
  
"Do I even want to know what you use this for?"  
  
Jan smiled and snaked her arms around his neck, pulling his hot, naked body against hers, "It's my 'examination' table. I love playing doctor."  
  
"Does that mean I can I give you an oral exam?" Phillip quipped.  
  
Jan murmured in agreement and ran her tongue along the outline of his ear, "Of course. You can do whatever you want to me. We've got all night," _And it's definitely going to be a night to remember_, she added to herself as Phillip began fumbling with the tiny silver buttons of her corset. 


	19. Banana Peels

Chapter Nineteen

  
  
As soon as Phillip walked into the dressing room of Unzipped, Rex stopped in mid-sentence and watched Phillip head towards him suspiciously. Lucas on the other hand, grinned upon seeing his brother and slapped him on the back when Phillip reached him.  
  
"It's about time you got back from the land of Jan Spears." Lucas said knowingly, not even noticing the horrified look that crossed Rex's face at his words, "How was it?"  
  
Phillip smiled reminiscently as he recalled the events that had taken place the night before. He and Jan had stayed up the entire night until he knew his way around the garage almost as good as Jan did. Then they had finally went inside to take a quick shower and then sleep later into the afternoon. He had returned to Belle's loft briefly to retrieve a change of clothes he could go to the club in, only to find Belle gone. He hadn't seen Belle since the evening before.  
  
"I'm not going into details with you," Phillip told him, "But I'll say this much, she certainly knows how to keep a guy busy for an extended amount of time. She's also pretty creative."  
  
Patrick mumbled something under his breath and Phillip turned to face him, "Did you say something?"  
  
Patrick looked up at him guiltily and shook his head. Phillip shrugged and turned back to face Rex, who was glaring at him.  
  
"God, you are such a jerk, Phillip! You could have at least told Belle where you were going. Do you have any idea how freaked out she was? I had to cover for you, man! I thought she was going to have a stroke or something. You should be more responsible."  
  
"What, so you and Belle are my parents now? I forgot, okay? But Belle's my roommate, not my guardian. And since Shawn's back in town, I probably won't be her roommate much longer. Jan's already offered to let me stay in her country home with her, so I'll probably move out of Belle's loft soon. I guess that'll make Shawn happier. Where did you tell Belle I was, anyways?" Phillip couldn't resist asking.  
  
"I told her you were spending the night at Lucas' house," Rex answered, shaking his head in disgust, "Belle is going to freak when she finds out you're with Jan."  
  
"I don't see why," Phillip countered, "She only wanted to be friends with me. She made that very clear. I know she doesn't like Jan but I don't see why that's any reason for me not to date Jan. Shawn and Belle will probably end up getting back together and then we'll all be happy."  
  
"So, you and Jan are really together now?" Lucas checked.  
  
Phillip nodded his head slowly, "Yeah, I think so." he was about to continue but a caustic voice interrupted him.  
  
"Like hell you are!" Phillip recognized Shawn's voice immediately and stifled a groan. He couldn't believe what a pain in the ass his ex-best friend had become.  
  
"What is wrong with you now, Shawn?" Phillip asked irritably, "Why are you here _again_? Don't you want to be with Belle?"  
  
"Oh, so we're back to that again." Shawn's eyes narrowed into mean slits, "You know very well Belle and I are through with each other. And because _I_ want to be with Jan, you decide _you_ want to be with her too. Can't you get a life and stop trying to screw up mine?"  
  
Phillip's eyes widened, "You want Jan? Where did that come from?"  
  
"From places so close to my heart that you'll never know where they are," Shawn said seriously, causing Lucas to snort with amusement. Shawn glared at him indignantly, then returned to speaking to Phillip, "Jan and I have been through a lot together. And maybe I didn't want her at first but she's gotten under my skin and I want her now. And you knew it all along, you asshole! So stop acting like you're innocent."  
  
"Shawn's right," Rex agreed, glowering at Phillip, "Stop taking all his women. You're so rude."  
  
"I'm not rude," Phillip protested hotly, "Jan wants to be with me. It's her choice. She wants me more than she'll ever want you. I bet you've never even been in her garage." Phillip thought he saw all Rex, Shawn, Patrick and Lucas all flinch almost simultaneously but brushed the assumption away, "It's really great. She has an oil wrestling pit in there and everything. I love it."  
  
A muscle in Shawn's cheek was twitching violently and finally he lost it, "_You can't prove anything_!" Shawn said, practically yelling. Phillip jumped back at the unexpected reaction, then noticed Lucas, Rex and Patrick all glaring at him.  
  
"What did I say?" Phillip asked in confusion.  
  
"Just drop it, Phillip," Rex ordered, "That was totally uncalled for."  
  
"Um... okaaaayy," Phillip frowned, still not sure why the mention Jan's garage had gotten such a negative and odd reaction but he changed the subject, "You still haven't told us what you're doing here, Shawn."  
  
Shawn's shoulders straightened proudly, "Bonnie gave me a job here," Shawn answered.  
  
Lucas looked at Shawn incredulously, "You're kidding." he said blankly, "You're going to strip here? That's insane."  
  
"Why?" Shawn demanded, looking insulted.  
  
"Because you can't wear a g-string," Lucas answered, "What are you supposed to _fill_ it with?"  
  
Shawn's mouth dropped open angrily while Phillip burst out laughing and gave Lucas a high five, "I couldn't have said it better myself. Shawn in a g-string just wouldn't work. It would be like trying to fit a banana peel around something the size of a triple-A battery."  
  
"Excellent comparison," Lucas told his brother and they exchanged another round of high fives while Shawn, Rex and Patrick looked on.  
  
"I don't see what your problem is, Lucas. What did I ever do to you?" Shawn questioned.  
  
"Nothing," Lucas shrugged, "But if Rex is going to take your side, I can't let you and Rex gang up on Phillip. That wouldn't be fair."  
  
Phillip smirked at Rex, "I told you he liked me better."  
  
"Well, I don't really care if Lucas teams up with you, Phillip Kiriakis," Shawn seethed, "I will get Jan away from you. I'm the one she wants. So, once Jan sees me strip, don't be surprised if you find yourself without a 'girlfriend' or whatever the hell Jan is to you."  
  
"I don't think so, Shawn. You can think what you want but Jan isn't going to leave me for you. Seeing you in a g-string fives sizes too big for you is not going to turn her on."  
  
Shawn's face was darkening with rage, "All right, Phillip, have it your way. This means war!"  
  
"In that case, me and Lucas are going to kick your _ass_." Phillip shot back.  
  
"We'll see about that," Shawn rolled his eyes, "Rex and I can take you two any day."  
  
Patrick finally spoke up, "So, let me get this straight. You went from fighting over Belle to fighting over Jan in a matter of days? Do you guys enjoy fighting over the same woman or something? Do you even want Jan or Belle, or are you just trying to determine who's the bigger man?"  
  
Shawn gasped, "Of course I want Jan! My feelings for her are genuine, unlike Phillip's. He just sleeps with her."  
  
"Like you would know," Phillip scoffed, "The truth is, we're very compatible."  
  
"In the sack," Shawn responded, his voice tinged with envy, "And I'm going to go get dressed now."  
  
"Good luck trying to keep your g-string from falling off," Lucas called after Shawn, who had already started to walk away.

* * *

After Patrick finished up on stage, Bonnie made her way onto the center of the stage, beaming at the audience members proudly, "All right, everyone, tonight, we have a new and _extremely_ sexy, if I do say so myself, stripper joining us. Why don't you all give Shawn a big welcome?"  
  
Jan stared blankly at the stage as Shawn made his entrance, her mind reeling, "What is he doing here?" she mumbled, more to herself than anyone else.  
  
"Isn't is obvious?" Nicole mumbled back so that Sami couldn't hear, "Your little plan to make Shawn jealous worked. Now he's decided to engage in an all out twinkie war with Phillip to win you back. Are you proud of yourself now?"  
  
"Do you really think that's what's going on?" Jan asked, unable to believe her plan was coming together so well. Nicole nodded and looked up at Shawn.  
  
"He hasn't taken his eyes off of you since he started dancing." Nicole remarked.  
  
Jan was about to respond but Sami spoke up first, "God, first my brother and now my cousin. This is sickening."  
  
"Maybe you just need the right distraction," someone whispered in Sami's ear, their lips brushing against her skin. Sami recognized the warm, soft mouth right away and let out an involuntary shiver. She twisted around in her seat to face him and his lips met hers before she even knew what was happening. When Lucas pulled away, she looked up at him in confusion.  
  
"What are you doing out here? Isn't Bonnie going to get mad?" Sami's eyes flickered over to Jan for a moment, who had flung her arms around Phillip, who had obviously came over to where the four women were sitting along with Lucas.  
  
"Nah, Bonnie told us to take a break," Lucas informed Sami, "She got sick of all the fighting backstage, so she kicked me and Phillip out for a while. Meaning I have time for..." he licked along her bottom lip to emphasize his meaning, "Other things in between performances."  
  
Sami's heart tripped as she watched a meaningful smile spread across his lips, "Come dance with me," he said. Sami stood up and let Lucas lead her onto the dance floor. Phillip and Jan had decided to do the same thing and were already on the dance floor, pressed up against each other. Once he and Sami had found a place on the dance floor, Lucas looked up at Shawn and smirked.  
  
"Shawn doesn't seem to be enjoying himself very much, does he?" Lucas observed, "I think he's kind of mad that Phillip's distracting Jan."  
  
"Why would he be?" Sami asked in confusion.  
  
"Phillip and Shawn have both decided they want Jan. They're fighting like crazy. That's why Bonnie wanted to separate them." Lucas explained.  
  
"Oh, well, now that you mention it, Shawn does look pissed that's Jan too busy paying attention to Phillip to notice him dancing. Although, he has no right to complain. He's getting plenty of attention from other women here." Sami noticed one woman in particular, who was waving a bill around frantically and screaming something along the lines, 'Take if off, Shawn!' repeatedly. Sami watched Shawn catch the woman's eye and begin making his way towards her, all the while sneaking quick glances at Jan to see if she noticed.  
  
Once Shawn reached the girl, she took the bill and stuffed it down the front of his g-string. Shawn seemed totally stunned by this move and Sami could hear the woman's friends opening reprimanding her.  
  
"Oh my God, Mal, I can't believe you did that!" one of them squealed as Shawn danced away from the woman, looking like he was trying very hard to get over the shock. Lucas chuckled and pressed his hand into the small of Sami's back and pulled her lower body tightly against his.  
  
"It looks like Shawn has a lot to learn about working here," Lucas stated, still laughing at he watched Shawn dance around the club, picking up money from other women and making sure he kept himself out of their g-string grabbing range at the same time. _And Shawn also needs to learn to leave my brother alone. If it isn't enough for Shawn that Phillip gave up Belle, then he needs to learn that you don't try and the steal the Roberts brothers' women._


	20. Singing Telegrams

Chapter Twenty

* * *

"Shawn? Shawn, wake up!"  
  
Shawn smothered a groan in his pillow at the sound of Mimi's voice rousing him from his sleeping state. He had hidden away in his old room in Rex's loft for most of the morning and afternoon, since he had had such a hard time getting to sleep the night before. After his first night working at Unzipped, he had gotten too worked up to get a good night's sleep. Phillip had gotten him so angry he couldn't even think about sleep, all he could think about was getting back at Phillip for trying to make Jan forget about him.  
  
He could still see the triumphant look in Phillip's eyes as he pulled Jan onto the dance floor with him while Shawn was performing on stage. It had been Shawn's first time up there and he had wanted Jan to be completely focused on him, but no, Phillip had to be a selfish bastard and steal her attention away. Phillip was so going down. But not today because Shawn wanted to stay in bed and avoid everyone. He had overheard Phillip and Jan talking later that night at the club and knew they had made plans to get Phillip moved out of Belle's loft today. Shawn didn't want to have to see Phillip pulling his stuff out of Shawn's ex-girlfriend's loft, only to move in with Shawn's would-be girlfriend.  
  
"Go away, Mimi," Shawn grumbled, pulling his head up from the pillow, "Didn't I tell you and Rex that I didn't want to be bothered right now?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Shawn," Mimi responded but something in her voice made Shawn tilt his head up so he was looking at her. Mimi's eyes were sparkling with laughter and as soon as Shawn met her eyes, it was like a damn burst. She burst out laughing and seemed unable to say anything else.  
  
"Are you going to tell me what you're doing in here anytime soon?" Shawn demanded, highly annoyed. Mimi only laughed harder, holding her sides. Finally, she stopped for a few seconds and took a few deep breaths.  
  
"You have a-," another wave of laughter hit Mimi before she could continue, "You have a- oh dear God, I can't breathe."  
  
"What do I have, Mimi?" Shawn shoved his long dark hair out of his eyes irritably.  
  
"You have a singing telegram!" Mimi blurted out, steadying herself against the wall as she convulsed with laughter. Shawn stared at her in confusion but then he heard it. Someone outside his bedroom, belting out the word's to that awful Britney Spears song, Hit Me Baby One More Time.  
  
"Who the hell would send me something like this?" Shawn asked rhetorically, then pressed his face back into the pillow, "I'm not going out there."  
  
Mimi stopped laughing and went over to Shawn. Yanking on his arm, she tugged him out of the bed, "You have to go see. Please? This guy, I mean, um, girl, is great."  
  
Grumbling, Shawn stood up and stumbled out the door to his bedroom. Once in the front room of the loft, Shawn rubbed his sleep-blurred eyes, then his mouth dropped open at the sight of the singer. Rex was standing next to the door to the loft, still watching the singer and it appeared that his jaw had come completely unhinged. The singer did a full twirl and her short skirt flared out barring her legs. She kept singing as Shawn and Rex continued to gawk at her. She finally finished her little song, to Shawn's relief, but his relief was short-lived when the singer pranced with up to him and gave him a big, long, wet kiss. When she pulled away, she gave him a big smile.  
  
"Okay, sexy man, I'm supposed to tell you that was from Phillip and Lucas," she told him, "Oh, and this is yours," she handed him a folded sheet of paper, then started towards the door. But on the way there, something fell out of her shirt. She bent over to pick it up and, not even caring that there were three other people watching her, stuffed it back down her shirt. Mimi seemed to realize what was going on first and fell victim to another fit of helpless giggles. Then it sunk in for Shawn that this lovely singer was definitely not a 'she'. He sputtered angrily, wiping at his mouth in a frantic movement.  
  
"You-you- I can't believe- Oh, God, ew- Get the hell out!" Shawn yelled, finally able to form a full sentence, wiping at his mouth in horror. Rex just continued to gape as the male Britney impersonator, who gave him a smile in return.  
  
"Don't look so shocked, sweetie," he told Rex, still keeping the same feminine voice as he walked over to the doorway the loft. Before leaving, he reached behind Rex and gave his ass a little squeeze. That seemed to snap Rex out of his shocked state and like Shawn, he turned into a sputtering mess. Mimi laughed even harder as Rex and Shawn tried to recover from what had just happened.  
  
"Mimi, how can you laugh?" Rex asked, "Did you see what she just did to me?"  
  
"What he did to you," Mimi corrected him, trying to keep a straight face, "But come on, give Phillip and Lucas some credit. That was pure genius. I can't believe I didn't see it before. He was so tall and he had that Adam's Apple-"  
  
"Be quiet!" Rex roared, "It's not funny!"  
  
"But it is," Mimi hiccupped, "He- he- he grabbed your ass! And he kissed Shawn."  
  
Shawn drowned out Mimi's unrelenting laughter and unfolded the piece of paper. His face grew hotter with each word he read.  
  
_Shawn,  
  
Lucas and I figured that, since Jan's never going to get together with you now that she has me, we'd get you a replacement. Only one catch- we figured you'd be better suited to a boyfriend. Enjoy because it's probably the best you can do.  
  
-Phillip_  
  
After ripping the paper into minuscule pieces, Shawn flung it on the ground and kicked the side of the couch, too angry to remember he was in his bare feet. Wincing, he hopped backwards and swore under his breath.  
  
"Those jerks are going to pay for this," Shawn growled, his voice filled with resolve, "I am going to kill them."  
  
"And I'll help," Rex volunteered, still thrown from having a cross-dressing man grope him.  
  
"Tonight at the club... ooh, they're going to get it so bad," Shawn promised, pacing around the apartment. Mimi finally stopped laughing, her head beginning to throb from laughing so hard.  
  
"Well, all I can say is, I'm glad I'm the club's water-girl," she murmured, more to herself than Rex and Shawn, "Because it looks like I'm going to get front row seats for the fireworks tonight."

* * *

Lucas, Phillip and Sami met up with 'Britney', whose real name was actually Adam, after he left the building Rex and Shawn lived in. The three of them had spent that morning with Jan, helping Phillip move into her country home. They had finished just in time to meet up with the cross-dresser they had hired the night before to see how things had went with Rex and Shawn.  
  
"So, what did Shawn do?" Phillip asked anxiously, "Did he totally flip out?"  
  
Adam chuckled, "Yeah, and it was really fun kissing him too. I love my work. Can I get paid now?"  
  
Phillip thanked him and handed him some money. Once Adam began to walk away, Phillip turned to face Lucas and Sami, "Thanks for all your help, guys. I wouldn't be doing such a fabulous job making Shawn miserable if it weren't for you two."  
  
Lucas shrugged modestly, "It was all Sami. How did you find that guy anyway?"  
  
"Crystal recommended him." Sami answered, rolling her eyes, "Like I'd know where to find a guy like that."  
  
"Well, it doesn't really matter," Lucas replied, giving her a little smirk, "I think I'll still have to surprise you tonight as a thank you for doing this for Phillip." his grin left no doubt about what type of surprise he had planned and Sami felt her heart rate spike even at the idea of what he was going to do to her that night. She knew that after this two-week period was up, she was going to be very disappointed. Oh, well, that's what extension periods are for, Sami thought as she, Lucas and Phillip began to walk away from Shawn's apartment building. 


	21. A Phillip And Shawn Sandwich

Chapter Twenty-One

* * *

**Author's Note: I'm finally back. I wrote this while I was away and well, it's definitely _not_ for the faint of heart. It also probably requires a strong stomach. I just know some people are going to despise me after reading this chapter. But I was not totally in my right mind when I wrote this. I got spooned by a girl and it disturbed me greatly. And all these guys kept spooning each other and dressing in cheerleading skirts, so I blame them for all the gayness in this chapter. Oh, besides the fact I already promised people I would write this stuff but aside from this chapter, I won't be posting any more chapters relating to this... subject over here. **

**And I'll stop with the Shawn, Phillip and Jan story in chapter twenty-two and will start writing more Lucas and Sami again. But damn, Phillip, Shawn and Jan are turning into the Jan, Nicole and Brady of What It Takes. No wonder all my stories end up sucking (and not in good ways either ;). I can't even keep to one story, it's like a story inside a story inside a story. I must stop doing that. Not to mention I need to make my stories less perverted but that's another thing entirely.**

* * *

****

Phillip and Lucas were already getting dressed backstage when Shawn and Rex arrived. Despite the fact that Phillip, Lucas and Mimi were all aware of what had happened to Shawn earlier that day, Shawn still swaggered over to where Phillip was standing confidently. He grinned at Jan as he walked past her, completely ignoring Lucas and Phillip's snickers.

Shawn pretended not to notice the mirth sparkling in Phillip's blue eyes when he reached the two men. _I don't care if you won round one, _Shawn silently told his fellow stripper, _Because it's time for round two and I'm taking this one home. _Shawn pushed various outfits on the clothing rack aside as he searched for a costume.

Phillip's taunts finally sliced through the relative silence, "How did you like the surprise Lucas and I left you, Shawn?"

Shawn steeled himself against a fresh burst of anger and kept his facial features slack, void of any emotion, "I don't know, Phillip," Shawn shifted so he was facing his rival, "What do you think?"

"Why don't you tell me?" Phillip nudged Lucas knowingly, "How was she- oh, excuse me, how was _he_?"

Shawn merely gave Phillip a tight-lipped smile but Rex could almost see the wheels turning in Shawn's head. Rex pulled away from the rack, focusing all his attention on the scene unfolding.

"I can't really explain it," Shawn scratched his head, "It's really hard to put into words. But I imagine it felt something like _this_." Without warning, Shawn closed the distance between Phillip and his faces and made sure to give Phillip a kiss twice as long, wet and hard as the one Shawn had received earlier from the man version of Britney.

"Am I dreaming?" Jan asked in a dazed voice, moving closer to her two love interests, who were currently locked in a tight embrace.

Rex stared at Lucas in confusion, "I don't know, there might be more brilliance in Shawn's plan that I'm not seeing but I am not grabbing your ass."

"Thanks, I really appreciate that," Lucas retorted sarcastically.

Phillip finally managed to remove himself from Shawn's prurient hold, gasping half from lack of air and half from shock and anger. His fists flew at Shawn's face but a fully prepared Shawn blocked Phillip's attempts with his forearms. But then Phillip got a clean shot and punched him all the way to the back of the clothes rack. Shawn struggled to get out of the clothes rack and when he did reappear, various articles of clothing hung off his body. Leather was draped over his head, vinyl hung off one shoulder and a silver belt buckle had caught on to the side of his pants. Shawn shoved the clothes off his body and looked up at Phillip with a look that showed how proud of himself he was.

"What are you trying to do?" Shawn smothered a smirk, "Did that turn you on? Are you trying to cop a feel or something?"

Phillip let out a wordless, guttural growl, his face filled with rage, "How could you do that, man? It was completely disgusting."

Shawn gave a flippant shrug in response, "Hey, obviously you think I'm gay if you're sending men up to my loft as potential love interests for me. And if I'm gay, why shouldn't I kiss you? You're cute, don't sell yourself short." Shawn snuck a quick glance behind him to seeJan standing close to the group, watching them with rapt attention. Perfect, "But not as cute as that Mr. Britney Spears you tried to fix me up with," Shawn continued boldly, "Too bad he had a dick because I have one too-"

"Liar." Phillip interjected sullenly.

"-And it's only hard for one person," Shawn looked behind him at Jan and pulled her against him, "And you know it too, don't you, baby?" Before Jan could react, Shawn lowered his head down and planted his mouth firmly on top of hers. He smiled against her lips as his hand slid up to the back of her neck. He hadn't even broke off contact with the stunned woman before he felt two hands seize the back of his shirt and violently fling him to the ground.

"Don't freaking touch her!" Phillip yelled, his fists pounding into Shawn's back repeatedly. Shawn let out a relieved breath when someone pulled Phillip off him. Shawn stood up to see Lucas holding onto his brother, who was thrashing and struggling, his arms still outstretched towards Shawn.

"It's too bad you wasted your money," Shawn mocked the already incensed stripper, "Ithought the little stunt you pulled was h. I could do it too, you know. Give me the costume and I'll play drag queen for a day. But that won't stop me from lifting up my cute little skirt and giving it to Jan nice and easy. Even dressed like a girl, I can give both me and Jan what we want the most."

"Jan doesn't want you," Phillip's voice was clear and unwavering, the sound of absolute certainty, "She's with me now. So get over it."

"You're just her fuck buddy," Shawn's voice held an equal amount of confidence and hearing the harsh statement made Rex's mouth drop open. He couldn't get over how different Shawn had been ever since his return to Salem. He was still the same Shawn, just harder, filled with more passion than he had been before. Whatever he had went through during his absence had changed him, toughened him up, ignited a fire within him that Shawn probably hadn't even realized was there.

"Fuck buddies have plenty of replacements available," Shawn continued with cold logic, "She can dump you or have more than one fuck buddy. You'd like two fuck buddies, wouldn't you, Jan?"

Almost in a trance, Jan nodded slowly, then noticed Phillip's expression and shook her head no, "Phillip isn't just my fuck buddy. I like him a lot, he makes me happy. We're invested in more than just sex." Shawn searched Jan's face for signs of dishonesty and found none. He knew she was a very good liar but could she actually be telling the truth this time? No, that was not a possibility. Jan would not fall for Phillip, Shawn would make sure of it.

"But you're still in love with me," Shawn looked at Jan steadily, waiting for her to break down and admit it. To his horror, she didn't. Instead, she squirmed nervously, looking from Shawn to Phillip as if she was afraid they would both leave if she didn't make the right move.

"You guys don't have to fight," Jan said reasonably, "Why don't you kiss again? I liked that."

"You would." Mimi scoffed.

"I can do that," Shawn replied, inching closer to Phillip.

"Ooh, looks like Jan has her own personal lapdog," Lucas commented, the sneer on his face doing nothing to mar his handsome features, "Where's your leash and collar?"

"It's not like that," Shawn's eyes were filled with instant anger, "It's not about always doing what Jan wants. It's about making sacrifices to make Jan happy so she'll realize which one of us she wants. It's a trial run, whoever breaks first loses Jan. Unless Phillip isn't up for it."

Stop being silly, Shawn," Jan protested, "You don't need to go all out to impress me. Do I _look _like Belle Black or something?"

"No, you look like a whore," Mimi said, "Besides, with Shawn offering to temporarily cater to your ever need, I don't see why you're not already taking advantage of his suggestion."

"It wasn't a suggestion." Shawn muttered.

Phillip gave Shawn a thoroughly deprecating look, "Okay, Jan, even though you're already with me and even though this contest of sorts is totally stacked in my favour, I'll go along with it. But only to shut Shawn up once and for all."

Jan's face lit up when she realized both men were fully consenting, "If you want to engage in an all out testosterone war, it isn't my place to stop you." Jan smiled expectantly, "Now kiss again. Please."

Shawn leaned in again. Phillip took two quick steps backwards. Shawn jutted his chin out knowingly, as if he had already won. Phillip stopped backing away and took a step forward, resisting the urge to curl his lip in disgust. He couldn't believe he was permitting another guy to kiss him. But he had always felt like he was the runner-up where Shawn was concerned. No matter what it took, he would beat Shawn this time. Shawn didn't deserve Jan anyways. With his unimaginative and almost cold-blooded disposition, he would never be able to hold his own with her.

Shawn's breath was hot against his mouth, then his lips were back on Phillip's. Shawn's lips were soft and yet still subtly different from the lips of any of the women Phillip had ever kissed. Phillip's entire body remained still, a stiff, solid object.

"I'm going to go finish dressing," Lucas sounded like he wasn't sure whether he should be amused, grossed out, or a little of both. Rex voiced his agreement and the two of them walked off.

Phillip closed his eyes while Shawn rested his lips on Phillip's, not moving, just resting there like a dead weight._Don't think about Shawn, _Phillip consoled himself, _Think about good things. Think about the garage. Think about Jan in that corset thingy, no, think about Jan naked. Even better, picture a naked nipple clamp holding Jan. Okay, that helps. Maybe I won't have to kill myself after all, _Phillip concluded, sighing with relief when Shawn pulled away after what seemed like forever.

* * *

Jan bounded over to her regular seat next to Nicole about ten minutes later than usual. Jan's face was glowing as she neared Sami, Nicole and Crystal. She reached her chair and dropped herself into it airily, the smile not leaving her face.

"What happened to you?" Nicole looked her up and down searchingly, "Did Phillip and/or Shawn just throw you down and screw you backstage or something?"

"I'm tempted to say it was better but that might be exaggerating a little bit," Jan paused for a moment, dramatically looking from person to person, "Shawn and Phillip were making out backstage."

Sami let out a derisive snort, "You're lying."

"I'm serious! They did it because I wanted them to. They're going all-out to fight over me. They basically said they'll do whatever I want them to do." Jan told her with not even an ounce of modesty toning down her words.

"Then they need their heads examined," Sami retorted, "How could you make them kiss? You know they're related, right?"

"Shawn and Rex are more related," Crystal spoke up.

"And that matters why?" Sami asked.

"It doesn't," Jan covered for Crystal, "And to answer your question, yes, I knew they were related. But I don't care and by the time I finish with them, Shawn and Phillip won't either."

"You're going to have a threesome with them in your garage, aren't you?" Nicole said knowingly.

"The thought hadn't even crossed my mind," Jan returned with wide-eyed innocence.

"Get real, Jan," Crystal silenced the younger woman, "You know you would kill to be in a Shawn and Phillip sandwich."

"I think that is the stuff nightmares are made of," Sami returned, looking like she had just tasted something rotten.

"Especially Belle's," Nicole pointed out, avoiding Sami's glare, "Think about it, Jan. You could single-handedly create a scenario that would be Belle's worst nightmare and your dream come true."

"You're right," Jan nodded decisively, "I'm going to make it happen. I will convince Phillip and Shawn to do it doggy style and they _will_ enjoy it."

"Shawn's already admitted to loving yogurt so you won't have any trouble with him. I don't know about Phillip though." Crystal said.

"Then we will be one big threesome and I won't have to pick between the two guys because everyone will love everyone and we won't want to leave anyone out. It's perfect." Jan finished.

And it really did make sense to Jan all of the sudden. Phillip and Shawn had been best friends for a long time, they had went long periods of time when they were extremely close. But they also seemed to constantly fall for the same woman. Maybe that was because they subconsciously used that as an excuse to fling themselves at each other, to get into those fistfights where they were all over each other. Jan finally understood why all the tension between Phillip and Shawn had been getting her so hot. Maybe there was more to that tension than anyone had ever known. Maybe they had secretly loved each other all this time. Jan knew she was reaching but dammit, she wanted that threesome. Even if they didn't love each other, Jan would do everything in her power to make them at least _want_ each other.

Jan noticed Sami get to her feet and start walking away, "Where are you going, Sami?" Jan called.

"To get something to drink," Sami answered, "If I'm going to sit with you three and listen to you talk about incestuous human sandwiches, alcohol is a necessary coping mechanism while waiting for the strippers to come out."

"No fair!" Nicole exclaimed, "I want to get drunk too. I haven't gotten drunk in so long."

Crystal and Jan quickly decided they wanted to get drinks too. In a few moments, all four women were at the bar, killing time before the strippers would make their appearance.


	22. Inebriated

Chapter Twenty-Two

****

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry about the delays in updating. I got so busy with other things that I had practically no time to write. I hope this chapter isn't too horrible, all I know is, I had the worst time finishing it.**  
  
Half an hour after making the decision to get something to drink, Sami was the only sober one left.  
  
Not that she was really one hundred percent sober, to be more accurate. She might even be a little tipsy but compared to the three completely inebriated woman she was sitting with, she had the demeanor of someone who hadn't a drop of anything but water for months.  
  
Jan came back with another refilled pitcher and sat down clumsily, the contents of the pitcher spilling over the sides. Not even noticing, she began drinking right out of the pitcher, causing small trails of the strong alcohol to miss her mouth and drizzle down her neck, soaking the low neckline of her shirt.  
  
"I thought we got... cut off," Nicole finished after a minute, after pausing to find the words to finish her sentence.  
  
"We did," Jan said slowly, "Except I gave the guy lots of money and then he gave me more stuff."  
  
"Well, share," Nicole said in a whiny voice, reaching across Sami's lap, grabbing the pitcher out of Jan's hands and taking a big drink from it. Jan huffed a little bit and looked up at the stage.  
  
"Hey, look, it's Lucas. Let's make him come over here," Jan exclaimed while Sami glared at her.  
  
"I'm surprised you can tell which guy is which, being so drunk and everything," Sami remarked snappishly.  
  
Jan ignored Sami and waved a bill in the air, wobbling a bit on her chair. She almost slipped off one side of her chair but managed to regain her balance for the most part. Lucas came over to them and reached out to take the money from Jan but before he could grab it, Crystal grabbed him and pulled him off the stage. Fortunately for Lucas, he landed squarely on Crystal's lap instead of the floor, who giggled and nuzzled her face into his neck.  
  
"See, he likes me better than your money." she told Jan, tightening her grip around his scantily clad body so he couldn't disentangle himself. In a matter minutes, almost every patron in the club was booing Crystal and the bouncers were at her side. Lucas finally managed to get off the enthusiastic vixen's lap and looked down at her in shock.  
  
"What?" Crystal stared at the stern-looking bouncers in confusion, "What did I do?"  
  
"You're not sharing Lucas with the rest of us, that's what," Jan reached across Sami and Nicole for Lucas, bumping the pitcher in the process and causing the contents to spill all over the front of Nicole. She squealed indignantly and tried to dump the rest of the drink on top of Jan but missed and accidentally soaked the front of her own pants instead.  
  
The bouncers cleared their throats pointedly and took hold of the women. The first bouncer had a hold on Nicole and Jan's shoulders while the second had a firm grip on Crystal.  
  
"We're going to have to get you to leave," the bouncers told them.  
  
Crystal let out a sigh of despair, "Not _again_. I mean, we didn't light anyone's hair on fire this time or anything. Why do we gotta go? I like it here."  
  
"Aw, let em' stay, boys," Bonnie's voice rang out above the chaos in the club, "These ladies are friends of mine."  
  
"They're also drunk out of their minds," the bouncer reasoned, "They're being disruptive."  
  
"We'll be good though," Nicole protested, winking at one of the bouncers and sidling up closer to him, "We'll be reeeeeaall good."  
  
"Mrs. Lockhart!" the bouncer looked at Bonnie helplessly, who just shrugged.  
  
While the bouncers and the club's manager argued, Sami stood up and rested her head on Lucas' shoulder, "They are driving me crazy," she informed him in a whisper, "I think it's Piss-Off-Sami for them night or something."  
  
"We could always leave early," Lucas suggested, his hand sliding down her shoulder to interlace his fingers with her.  
  
"We?" Sami looked up at him for confirmation.  
  
He nodded and leaned down to whisper in her ear, the husky, breathy sounds blending together like something out of a very erotic, very vivid dream, "Definitely. I've been looking forward to giving you a private dance tonight ever since this afternoon outside Shawn's loft. The sooner we get started, the more time we'll have."  
  
"Private dance?" Sami practically squeaked, the soft repetition of his words lost to the sea of noises in the crowded club. She couldn't believe how easy it was for him to make her blood rush with one simple, yet provocative admission. But as soon as the words had left her mouth, she had felt the nerves in her stomach coil with anticipation. She had seen with her own eyes how sex-personified Lucas was when he danced on stage in the club. If he was dancing for her and her alone, in the privacy of one of their own apartments, she knew it would be would a million times better.  
  
"Who works for who here?" Bonnie blasted the bouncers, who were now looking a little contrite, "I said let the dolls stay and I meant it. I'm sure after this they'll be on their best behavior and won't be pulling no more strippers into their laps. Right, girls?"  
  
"Yes, Bonnie," Crystal, Jan and Nicole sang in unison right before Shawn walked up to the small cluster of people.  
  
"Hey, Bonnie, you have to do something about the men's bathroom. It's in need of some serious repairs." Shawn told her.  
  
"What?" Bonnie perked up at Shawn's words and began wringing her hands nervously, "What's wrong with it?" The club's manager never failed to get herself worked up if she even had the suspicion something wasn't perfect in the club. Anyone who knew Bonnie even a little bit knew that Alice's Bar and Unzipped meant a lot to her and that she put her heart and soul into making sure both the establishments were running smoothly.  
  
"I don't know. The bathroom stalls have these holes in them. They're kinda big, a little smaller than a baseball." Shawn frowned, looking genuinely puzzled. Jan, Crystal and Nicole's reflexes were slowed thanks to the alcohol but Lucas and Sami caught on immediately and burst out laughing.  
  
"God, you're an idiot," Sami managed through laughter, "Haven't you ever seen a glory hole before?"  
  
"Glory whats?" Shawn scratched his head, while Lucas banged his head against Sami's shoulder.  
  
Bonnie heaved a relieved sigh and placed one hand over her chest, "Don't scare me like that again, Shawn," I thought something was really wrong with the bathroom. Those holes are supposed to be installed. I just had them installed a few days ago."  
  
"What are glory holes?" Shawn demanded, a little bit annoyed now.  
  
"Glory holes?" Jan finally perked up, "That's so cool. I want to play with them with Shawn and Phillip."  
  
"A couple of my movies feature glory holes," Crystal interjected, slurring her words, "Those things are pretty cool."  
  
"I can't wait to try them out," Jan said enthusiastically, "Me and Shawn and Phillip should all play with them at the same time. I bet I'd be really talented with using the glory holes. Phillip said I could suck start a leaf blower, I'm so good."  
  
"Well, he certainly has a way with words." Shawn responded, looking irritated at the mention of Phillip, the meaning behind Jan's words seeming to go right past his head.  
  
"And that's very gross," Sami reprimanded the younger woman, "No one here wants to picture you sucking anything, Jan. Not Phillip or a leaf-blower or Shawn or anything or anyone else."  
  
"Geez, Sami you're grouchy. Why don't you just go home?" Jan pouted.  
  
"She is going home. With me," Lucas turned to Bonnie, "Is it all right if I take the rest of the night off? Sami and I sort of made plans."  
  
"Plans?" Jan smiled knowingly at Lucas, "That sounds like you both have a night of naughty bad fun ahead of you. But if you really want to have fun, you should do this," Jan lurched drunkenly over to where Lucas was standing and pulled him aside. She took a minutes to whisper in his ear and when she finished, Lucas pulled away to give her a stunned look.  
  
"I can't do that," he replied, shooting a quick look at a now very suspicious Sami.  
  
"Sure you can," Jan giggled girlishly, "If a guy did that for me, I would get hotter than... something very hot." she finished, practically slipping on the floor.  
  
"Well, I'll think about it," Lucas said to humor the drunk girl, giving her a little pat on the head, "Don't have too much fun without Sami around."  
  
Jan squealed, "Don't mess up my hair, dude. And of course I won't. Now there's no one to bother here."  
  
"Poor you," Lucas replied with mock sympathy.  
  
"Of course, you can leave. Hopefully I can convince Shawn here, along with Phillip, to keep these girls in line."  
  
"Ooh, can they?" Jan sounded excited at that prospect, "Do it, Shawnie. Spank me!"  
  
"That's Sami department," Lucas mumbled under his breath, while Sami retaliated by slugging his arm, her face the colour of a fire engine. Thankfully, no one else had heard Lucas' comment and the two of them started to walk away after saying good-bye to Bonnie, Shawn, Jan, Crystal and Nicole. About ten feet from the exit door, Sami stopped in her tracks and looked Lucas up and down.  
  
"You're leaving in your costume?" she asked, her eyes taking in the leather harness and tight leather shorts for the first time. Lucas looked a little confused at first, then met Sami's gaze with a grin.  
  
"Sure," his eyes were dark with suggestiveness and his tongue darted out to lick his lips, "I'll return it on my next shift. I think it could be very useful, especially considering what I have in mind for tonight."  
  
Sami felt a pleasurable sensation spread through her entire body, feeling like he had somehow caressed her with his words. She hoped that this was going to be a very long night because from the way Lucas was talking, the longer it was, the better it would be.


	23. Teasing

Chapter Twenty-Three 

  
  
**Author's Note: I know it's been forever since I updated this and I'm really sorry. I was planning on writing it sooner but I got sick then I had to catch up with work and things, so I couldn't find time to squeeze this story in. Anyways, I think this chapter is dirtier than the kind of stuff I usually write (Oh my God, and that's incredible) but the last time I said that, people didn't find what I wrote that dirty. So I don't know, I'll just say it's dirty and let everyone judge it for themselves. Big thanks to Mallory and Yvonne for requesting an update and especially to Yvonne for helping me get over my writer's block with this chapter by letting me read Damage Control's latest update in advance (which is a must-read by the way. It features porn-star Lucas so how could it not be ;)). **  
  
Lucas' decision to return to his apartment without changing into normal clothes managed to capture the attention of all stray tenants inside the apartment that happened to be in the right place at the right time. Everyone who saw him walking down the apartment building's hallway in the skimpy leather ensemble practically stopped in their tracks to stare at him with a mixture of confusion and shock etched onto their faces. Sami had had to push down the laughter that threatened to bubble up when one of the men walking past them had casually made a remark about thinking it was too early to be thinking about Halloween costumes. However, as Lucas stood in front of the door to his apartment, two women a few doors down the hallway stepped out of their apartment and took notice of Lucas' barely concealed body. Their catcalls brought an arrogant smirk to Lucas' face as he inserted the right key into the door and caused Sami's mood to plummet from amused to annoyed in mere seconds.   
  
As soon as Lucas unlocked the door, Sami pushed him inside a little bit more roughly than necessary. Once inside, Lucas turned to look at Sami irritably.   
  
"What was that for?" he demanded, his voice filled with mock indignance.   
  
"For letting them see you like that," though Sami wasn't completely serious, her irritation was clearly more authentic than Lucas' had been, "Is your new lifelong goal to have as many random sluts as possible see you practically naked or something?"   
  
"You weren't complaining about me coming back here dressed like this before," Lucas reminded her.   
  
"That's because I was too busy thinking about how much use I could get out of this thing," Sami replied, her anger decreasing as she ran one manicured fingernail along the thick straps of leather strapped tightly over Lucas' chest, "It's very kinky. Where the hell did Bonnie find something like this anyway? Sex Toys 'R' Us?"   
  
"It doesn't matter," Lucas said flippantly, leaning in closer to Sami, his voice dropping to a near whisper, "You don't have any reason to be jealous of any other woman who watches me anyway. You know why?"   
  
Sami hardened against the low, husky words coming out of his mouth, "Why?" she asked, using a tone that conveyed to Lucas that she could have cared less. But he knew her too well to buy that. His head inclined forward until his mouth was inches from her left ear, then began whispering again.   
  
"Because I don't see them when I'm dancing on stage. I'm thinking about you when I'm up there. Every. Single. Time." the last three words were punctuated by light nibbles on her earlobe. Sami's anger entirely diminished as his hands slipped around her waist to draw her closer to him and her knees almost buckled under the shameless provocativeness of his last words.   
  
"Fuck," she whimpered as his breath continued spilling hotly onto her skin.   
  
"Later," he murmured, a throaty laugh pushing past his lips, "I think I owe you a dance first."   
  
Sami followed Lucas into his bedroom on trembling legs, unable to stopped herself from admiring the way the tight leather shorts hugged Lucas' ass. Her pulse jumped at the mere thought of molding her hands around his muscular ass and the mental images that conjured up caused her face to heat up immediately.   
  
Once she and Lucas were both inside Lucas' bedroom, Lucas led Sami over to a chair that was about five feet from his bed.   
  
"You can just sit there for now," Lucas murmured, his fingers tracing a path down her arm as his hands left her. Sami shifted in the chair, watching Lucas go over to the stereo he had set up in his room. But instead of turning on the music, Lucas kept one hand poised over the play button on the stereo and turned back around to face Sami. As soon as she took in the seductively purposeful look on Lucas' face, Sami knew that whatever games he had in mind for the night were moments away from beginning.   
  
"Okay," he began, a smirk beginning to upturn the edges of his mouth, "There's only one condition I have, Sami."   
  
"And what's that?" Sami asked, her voice low and suggestive.   
  
"Until I say so, you can't touch me, in fact, you can't even get off that chair," Lucas informed her, the playful look in his eyes contrasting the stern tone he had tried to obtain.   
  
Sami made a small, derisive noise in the back of her throat and arched one eyebrow with challenge, "I don't think I'll find that too hard to do. I don't think your private dancing skills are that good yet."   
  
Lucas' eyes sparked in response to Sami's provoking words, "We'll see if you're still singing the same tune by the time this is over." he replied, his features contorting slightly with determination as he pressed down on the play button. In a matter of seconds, loud, pulsating music flooded the room. As soon as the music started, Lucas began to dance, his coffee-coloured muscles and skin rippling as he moved. His undulating movements matched the beat of the song perfectly, his hips rocking from side to side. He turned his back to Sami, and did a full rotation of his hips, making it impossible for Sami to focus on anything but the leather-clad backside he seemed to be relentlessly tempting her with that night.   
  
When he spun back around to face her, the intensity in Lucas' eyes impaled Sami, like two twin lakes of dark fire. She could see how much he wanted her as his hands trailed down firm muscles and enticing hollows. They slid overs the contours of his chest but began their journey upwards again before moving low enough to give Sami an excuse for eyeing what was one of the most desirable parts of his anatomy. He tilted his head back and ran his hands through his short, dark hair, his legs spread slightly apart and his hips gyrating in full circles for Sami's viewing pleasure.   
  
As Lucas thrust his lower body forward suggestively, Sami could feel liquid heat soaking her panties and pinpricks of sweat breaking to the surface of her skin. Now that Lucas was alone with her, dancing for only her, she couldn't think of another time she had ever wanted him more. He had the ability to turn her on at even the most mundane of times but when danced, he was mind blowing. He set off sensitive nerve endings in her body without touching her and he forced her carnivorous appetite to the surface more with every movement of his body. Suddenly, she wished she had a camera in her hands so she could take pictures of him while he danced for her, so she could capture the way he was radiating pure, unadulterated sex at that moment. His eyes were closed as his hands dropped down again, completely caught up in the dance he was giving Sami.   
  
With his fingertips, Lucas began tracing light circles around his nipples, slowly decreasing the circumference of the circles until he had zeroed in on the milk chocolate discs of the twin peaks. He rubbed the pads of his fingers over the distended points, causing Sami's breath to quicken, wishing she could use her own fingers to mirror the treatment he was giving to his body. Her own body throbbed in excitement and it was becoming increasingly hard to remain rooted to the seat Lucas had set out for her.   
  
"How am I doing?" Lucas asked as the song reached a temporary lull, the question forcing Sami to pull herself out of her lust-induced paralysis so she could reply.   
  
"Horrible," Sami lied, the faintest traces of a smirk adorning her face, "I thought the point of a strip tease was to actually _strip_. Not that you have very much to take off but still..."   
  
"Point taken," Lucas lowered his head and his fingers began fumbling with the straps of the harness. Sami made a displeased noise that went unheard by Lucas and she made a move to get off the chair. Lucas' head snapped up immediately and his eyes flashed an amused warning to Sami.   
  
"Sami, we made a deal," Lucas reiterated.   
  
Sami dropped back into the chair petulantly, "Fine. But don't take that off," her eyes focused in on the harness pointedly, "Just leave that on. Only that. Please."   
  
Lucas let out a low chuckle at Sami's request and nodded agreeably. But instead of moving on to the ridding himself of the shorts and baring himself to Sami, he began to move sinuously with the music again. He slid across the carpeted floor of his bedroom until he reached his bed. Crawling on top of it, he kicked the pillows off the bed to give himself more room. He then lowered his body onto the bed and moved against the blankets in a blatant imitation of intercourse. He looked up at Sami to gauge her reaction and when he saw the lust-crazed, dazzled look on her face, a wave of pride swept over him. He hadn't expected to enjoy reveling in his exhibitionist side this much but he had to admit, it was incredibly exhilarating to see so much longing displayed plainly on Sami's face. Longing for _him_. He ground his body against the blankets covering his bed, feeling the soft material rub against his bare skin erotically.   
  
As Lucas rolled around on his bed like a dog in heat, Sami eyed him the same way younger children eyed candy through a candy store window. Lucas might as well until have tied her to the chair, she felt so bound to it. She wanted to prove she could control herself, therefore she was stuck sitting in the chair until Lucas told her she could get off it. But it was becoming almost painful to resist the urge to get out of the chair and fly onto the bed, throwing herself on top of Lucas' body and touching all the places his hands had already explored that night, along with a few other places on his body Lucas hadn't been brave enough to get to yet.   
  
Lucas' body was now covered with a heated sheen as he crawled towards the edge of bed. He stopped near the foot of it and sat up on his knees. Almost as if he had read Sami's mind, he slid skilled hands down his stomach and to the waistband of his shorts. She heard the distinct sound of velcro separating under the pulsating music. The beginnings of Lucas' g-string were now revealed to her and Sami sucked her breath, watching as Lucas pulled the velcro apart at a tortuously slow pace, looking straight into her eyes to watch her reaction. The g-string was silver and gleamed against his skin. Once he had the shorts fully undone, he pulled them away from his body and tossed them to the side, leaving him in nothing but the minuscule g-string. She could see the outline of his erection already straining against the thin fabric left on his body. Sami almost gasped when he took one hand and began stroking himself through the barrier of the tiny article of clothing. Suddenly, she wondered how much hotter the room had to get before it would burst into flames.   
  
Lucas gripped his shaft in one hand and let his thumb slide up and down the length of it slowly and deliberately. His eyes were closed again and he let out a tiny murmur of contentment. Not bothering to open his eyes, he let go of himself and slowly uncovered the last part of his body. His knees shifted on the bed as he pushed the g-string another few inches down his legs before returning his hand to its previous position. His fist closed over his bare erection and he bit his lip as he began stroking it again, opening one eye to see Sami's reaction. She was practically drooling, leaning so far forward in her chair that it was only standing on two legs. Grinning, Lucas increased the velocity of his strokes the slightest bit and decided to add sound effects to his performance.   
  
"Mmmmm..." the low moan seemed to startle Sami a little bit and her eyes burned into his pleadingly for a moment, begging him to let her come over there and help him finish the job he had started. And Lucas would let her. But not yet. He wanted to hear the words coming out of her mouth, he wanted to hear her beg for him.   
  
"God, Sami... oooooh... that feels so nice... yeah... right there, baby..." Lucas continued his heartless baiting for a few moments longer before Sami finally snapped. She sprang out of the chair and lunged at the bed. Before Lucas could stop her, she knocked him off his knees and had him pinned under her on his back. Her mouth sought out his and she attacked it with a fierce kiss. Shocked by her complete loss of control, Lucas let Sami kiss him frantically, her mouth moist, hot and open against his. For a minute, Lucas began to kiss her back with equal fervor, his tongue wrapping around hers, probing deep into her mouth in a rhythmic fashion. But then he took hold of her shoulders and manage to separate them.   
  
"What the hell, Sami?" Lucas demanded, feigning disgust, "I always knew you were impatient but I figured you could hold out for longer than that."   
  
"Don't rub it in," Sami growled, her voice shaking slightly, "You did that on purpose. You purposely started making those noises and touching yourself like that so I would lose it. I think you've done more than your share of teasing tonight and it's going to stop right now."   
  
Lucas gave her a triumphant grin and raised his eyebrows, "If you say so," he murmured, slipping his hands into her hair and pulling her mouth back over his. He started kissing her gently, softly at first, his mouth urging her to open for him. Sami's body relaxed into him and she parted her lips, allowing him to ease his tongue back inside her greedy mouth. His tongue began a game of advance and retreat inside her mouth, thrusting forward and back in imitation of a more explicit activity. At the same time, Lucas bunched the shirt Sami was wearing up her body and tried to pull it off her. More than willing to help him, Sami assisted him in the removal of her clothes until both she and Lucas were fully stripped of all their clothes.   
  
Once both of them had finished removing all obstacles, Lucas rolled over so he was lying on top of Sami. Sami's breathing was heavy and uneven as Lucas pulled away from her mouth and began dropping kisses down her throat. Her hands slipped behind his neck, while Lucas trailed his mouth down her body at a steady pace, not even bothering to fake wanting to take things slow anymore. And Sami was extremely grateful for this small change in Lucas' demeanor because after the dance he had just given her, she wanted him inside her as soon as possible. His head came forward and found the hard bud of her left nipple and he drew it into his mouth, licking and sucking greedily. Sami inhaled sharply and her fingernails raked paths down Lucas' back, a low moan escaping her lips.   
  
Sami threw back her head and writhed under his mouth as he began nipping lightly at the engorged peaks, then smoothing his tongue over them to soothe the light bites, alternating between the two nipples, giving them equal attention. Each nip caused a lightning bolt of sensation to spike from her breast all the way down between her thighs. She could feel the heat of him pressed up against her leg, burning hot and pulsing with blood. Throwing her head back against the rumpled blankets and sheets a second time, Sami wriggled underneath him, trying to align herself perfectly with the tip of him.   
  
"Please, Lucas..." Sami whispered throatily, her body shuddering under the ministrations of his talented mouth, "Please do it now."   
  
Lucas obligingly raised himself up so he was straddling her thighs. Sami jerked her hips upwards at the same time Lucas drove his forward and he entered her in one quick movement. Sami was able to bite back the first moan that threatened to surface but Lucas didn't even bother trying to refrain from letting out his own groan of pleasure as Sami's tight, slick walls surrounded him. He began to thrust into her steadily, withdrawing himself about almost all the way before burying himself back into her fully. The tiny moans coming from Sami with every thrust in he made spurred him on to go faster and he could already feel himself moving perilously close to the brink of losing it. Fighting for control, he slowed down his pace, trying desperately to keep from causing round one to end too fast.   
  
He began swivelling his hips at a more languid pace, feeling Sami rock her lower body into his underneath him. She wrapped her legs around his hips so she could match his tempo more accurately. Her eyes were dilated and her lips were swollen from the frenzied kisses they had shared, her cheeks flushed a dark pink. He loved the way she looked at him at times like these. Her eyes held a look of complete abandon and at the same time, she seemed so much more vulnerable and trusting.   
  
"You look so beautiful," he whispered, lowering his mouth to touch her lips with a gentleness that contradicted the rhythm of his thrusts, which had increased in speed again as if of their own volition. Her convulsing walls hugged him tighter with each plunge he took, eating away the remains of his self-control. After a few more deep thrusts he felt his impending climax boring down on him. Sami made a deep guttural sound in the back of her throat as her body shuddered violently, causing Lucas to let himself give in and let his own orgasm crest over him like ocean waves during a thunderstorm. 


	24. Place Holder

This is a place holder for chapter twenty-four. It is not archived on because of the highly explicit m/m slash. This chapter is linked in my profile. 


	25. Place Holder

This is a place holder for chapter twenty-five. It is not archived on because of the highly explicit m/m slash. This chapter is linked in my profile. 


	26. Telling Belle

Chapter Twenty-Six

  
  
** It's been a while since I've posted a new chapter here, sorry. But I have been writing Unzipped, just not posting it here. It was all Shawn/Jan/Phillip stuff and I promised not to post the really explicit chapters of that here earlier on. Which is why this chapter is only R at most because after writing three NC-17 chapters in a row, I am spent. Well, maybe not me so much as Lucas, Sami, Phillip, Shawn and Jan. Especially Shawn... ;)   
  
Anyways, chapters 24 and 25 are over but it was basically PWP, so everything should still make sense. All you need to know is that Phillip, Jan and Shawn are now all dating (sort of :S) and kissing (among other things :P). But in most, if not all chapters posted over here, it's only alluded to or briefly touched on. However, if anyone is extremely offended by romantic male/male situations, then this chapter probably still isn't for you, sorry.   
  
And this chapter wound up being mostly non-Lumi characters until the end, unfortunately. There was supposed to be more content in this chapter but it got too long so I have to finish off what I was planning to write in this chapter in the next one. I'm sorry if it bores anyone, but like I said, it's been a while since I wrote anything other than plotless smut. Thanks to everyone who has kept up with this story and helped encourage me to continue writing it.**   
  
Belle walked towards the back of the club, feeling a heavy wave of resentment spreading throughout her body. She could not believe she was actually doing this. She wasn't supposed to be the one coming to Shawn, Shawn was supposed to be with her every chance he had. She had made it very clear to him that he was on probation. After he had left her in her time of need, he deserved to have to work to win her back. And yet, it felt like Shawn was avoiding her. But he wouldn't do that because he still loved her. They loved each other. Their relationship was supposed to be gradually going back to the way it had been before she had told that lie to protect her mother. But Shawn Brady just wasn't cooperating.   
  
Belle knew how to get to the backstage area of the club after her countless conversations with Mimi concerning Unzipped. She found the appropriate door and peaked inside the stripper-congested room. She felt her face heat up at the sight of the gorgeous men walking around backstage, some of them dressed in nothing more than minuscule g-strings. She had seen them up dancing on stage, of course but this was an entirely different thing. She forced her eyes away from them and looked on, her gaze coming to rest on her boyfriend. Shawn was pulling on his costume, standing next to Phillip and... Jan. Belle scowled at the brunette. It was bad enough when Phillip had moved out of her loft to live with Jan, although it had been tolerable since Phillip had always just been a stand-in for Shawn. But now Jan was hanging around Shawn? There was no way Belle would allow that. That was just one more condition Belle would set out for Shawn- no more Jan Spears.   
  
Belle pushed the door open completely and started towards Shawn. He didn't even notice her; his attention remained completely fixed on Phillip and Jan. Forcing back the scowl that she knew would mar her beautiful face, Belle continued walking towards the three of them. As she neared closer, she felt a tiny twinge of uncertainty, almost as if she was interrupting something private and exclusive. Shawn and Phillip looked so happy, despite the fact they were standing less than two feet from each other. What had happened to those two fighting over her? Surely they still wanted to rip each other to shreds to determine who won the amazing prize that was Belle Black. And then there was Jan, who was positively glowing. It was clear, even to Belle, that the three of them seemed to be doing just fine on their own. How ridiculous.   
  
But Belle pushed the thoughts aside. She was disillusioned, obviously. Shawn _would_ be glad to see her, she meant more to him than Phillip and Jan ever would. For one, he hated Phillip. And Jan just wasn't the kind of person anyone would be able to tolerate for very long. She finished that thought right before reaching Shawn. Smiling brightly, she tapped Shawn on the shoulder. Upon turning around and seeing her, Shawn's expression did not contain the abundance of bliss Belle had expected and another jolt of uncertainty hit her. Although it passed almost as quickly as it had come, damn, Shawn Brady was going to owe her big time for making her feel like this.   
  
"Hi, Shawn," Belle chirped brightly, "How's it going? I haven't seen you around very much lately, so I decided to come look for you here. Honestly, I don't see how you can stand hanging around this club so much with all the irritating people you have to put up with." her eyes glossed over both Phillip and Jan before returning to Shawn.   
  
Shawn stifled a groan at the sight of Belle's expectant face. Not managing to conjure up a lot of enthusiasm, he still did his best to be polite, "Hi, Belle. It's, uh, good to see you."   
  
Belle sniffed indignantly, "Not that anyone could tell. Honestly, what has gotten into you lately? You never have any time for me and I'm sick of it. Are you going to try and make this relationship work or not?"   
  
Shawn looked positively guilty after hearing Belle's words and even Belle couldn't ignore the imploring looks both Phillip and Jan gave Shawn in unison.   
  
"Belle," Shawn began carefully, like he was stepping over broken glass in bare feet, "I guess it's a good thing you're here and that you've brought this whole thing up. Can we go talk over here for a minute?" He attempted to lead Belle away from Phillip and Jan so he could talk to her privately about ending their relationship but Belle swatted his hand away.   
  
"No, I won't move. I just want you to tell me what is wrong with you! I have bent over backwards to give you chance after chance! And I'm sorry but if you don't get your act together, I'm just going to have to find a new and more dedicated boyfriend."   
  
Shawn felt the first tugs of anger gnawing away his composure. Sensing this, Jan stepped up next to Shawn, one hand dropping protectively onto his arm, "You don't owe her any explanations, Shawn. Don't listen to her."   
  
Shawn's face was taut with irritation, "No, Jan, I think I'm just going to tell her. She needs to know what's going on.   
  
"Belle," Shawn began, his attention returning to its previous target, "I'm sorry but I- I can't date you anymore."   
  
Belle's mouth dropped open, "Excuse me? What do you mean? You can't break up with me! You're on probation and therefore, it's not allowed!"   
  
Phillip rubbed his eyes wearily, "I don't think he can be on probation if he's not dating you anymore."   
  
"No one asked for your input," Belle snapped. She tossed her head to one side, not giving Phillip the satisfaction of looking at him. Granted, there was a time when he had been there for her and supported her. He had been her friend but that was over now. She no longer had any use for Phillip Kiriakis. She had been through with him the minute he chose to live with Jan over comforting her when she was upset. And she definitely didn't want to hear him intervening in her discussion with Shawn.   
  
"I'm sorry," Shawn said contritely, "Things have just been completely different since I came back to town and I don't think things are ever going to go back to normal for us. Our relationship has completely deteriorated and I-" he cut himself off, pausing to glance at Jan, then at Phillip, "I think I want to move on with other people."   
  
"Other people? But that's ridiculous," Belle sputtered, "You can't move on from me! I'm Belle Black! Your soul mate! I don't know what happened to you when you weren't in Salem but it's making you a worse person. You're afraid of your feelings now. You know you love me so much but you can't-"   
  
"I don't love you anymore!" Shawn roared so loudly that Lucas, Patrick, Tyler, Rex and Tanner all looked over in his direction. Realizing that he may have been a bit harsh, Shawn calmed down, "All right, maybe that was going too far."   
  
"I'll say," Belle whined, "I think you're angry about something and that you're just taking it out on me. You shouldn't do that, you know."   
  
"I'm not taking anything out on you. This might come as a shock but it's not always about you."   
  
"To me it is."   
  
Like a frayed rubber band, Shawn suddenly snapped, "Well, maybe it shouldn't be. I think I'll just tell you the truth right now so you realize how much this _isn't_ about you. I moved in with Jan this morning. Phillip lives there too but you probably already knew that. And we're happy together. _That's_ why I'm breaking up with you."   
  
Belle's face was as white as tissue paper, "But that's not possible. Jan can't date both you and Phillip at the same time. Only I can have more than one man in my life at once. One of you has to leave and it's going to be you, Shawn."   
  
"She isn't dating us both at once," Shawn countered. Phillip opened his mouth to stop Shawn from continuing, then changed his mind and closed it, still regarding Shawn carefully, "We're all dating each other. That's right, me and Phillip aren't losing out on anything. We're together too." his arm slung over Phillip's shoulders and he grinned at Belle mockingly, wanting to get back at her for everything: for moving on with Phillip while he had been gone, for starting that stupid and completely unjust probation period and most importantly, for looking at Phillip and Jan like they were beneath her when Shawn knew from personal experience that they weren't.   
  
Even the oh-so virginal Belle managed to at least partially comprehend what Shawn was telling her, "Oh my God, Shawn! No, this can't be happening to me. You're still in love with me. Phillip and Jan must have brainwashed you!" Belle glared at Phillip, "I can see Jan pulling something like that but you're supposed to be supporting me, Phillip. You're a traitor and you're going to regret this."   
  
"Why should I support you?" Phillip challenged her, "You never wanted to move on with me. You wanted to wait for Shawn. And yet, when I decided to get over you and move on with Jan, you decided I wasn't worth your time anymore. That isn't the way real friends treat each other. Obviously you didn't care about me or my feelings very much."   
  
"Shut up!" Belle snapped, unable to strike back with an intelligent argument, knowing Phillip's words had been at least ninety percent accurate, if not more, "Do you really think this is for real? Do you really think Shawn is going to leave me for you? Do you think _anyone_ would be stupid enough to leave _me_ for _you_?"   
  
"It's already happened," Jan's body stiffened possessively as she walked up next to Phillip and placed her hand on his arm, "You might think you're good, Belle. Hell, by some miracle, you might ever _be_ good. But you'll never be better than me and Phillip. Ask Shawn if you don't believe me."   
  
The look in Shawn's eyes didn't even require Belle asking the question. Her eyes stung with tears and a tantrum threatened to explode from within her. Her mind was screaming 'NOFAIRNOFAIRNOFAIRNOFAIR' over and over and it was all she could do not to burst into tears and begin screaming at Jan and Phillip for taking what was hers. But she didn't. She wasn't going to lift a finger to get Shawn back if she didn't have to. And she had in mind one person who would be just as upset about the current situation as she was.   
  
"Well, I bet your mom doesn't know you're living with Jan," Belle replied in a whiny voice, directing her attention at Phillip, "I'm going to tell her what you're doing. Then she'll make you move out and stop trying to get your hands on my boyfriend."   
  
"I'm not your boyfriend anymore, Belle. And acting like a five-year old tattletale is not going to change anything," Shawn informed her, although he didn't look entirely convinced himself. He didn't know very much about Kate Roberts but one thing that was obvious to most people, including himself, was her rigid protectiveness of her children.   
  
"You're wrong. Kate will help me get you to stop this. And Mmi will too!" Belle announced loud enough to for Mimi, who had been deep in conversation with Rex, to look up questioningly. Then, with the obedience of a well-schooled golden retriever, she left Rex to walk over to Belle and see what was going on.   
  
"Mimi, Shawn says he's breaking up with me so he can be with both Jan and Phillip at the same time. It isn't fair," Belle's eyes were round and pleading, "Please help me change Shawn's mind."   
  
"Of course, I will." Mimi said without hesitation, "You and Shawn are meant to be together. But are he and Phillip really..." her voice trailed off and she looked from Phillip to Shawn. Her head spun. These were two people she had known since grade school, and now both of them had decided they weren't completely straight anymore. And despite all the years of friendship the three of them had shared, she had never seen it coming. It was mind-boggling. Especially the fact that Shawn and Phillip had turned to each other to experience what it was like to be with men.   
  
"It doesn't matter if you have Mimi and Kate," Jan retorted disdainfully, "_I'm_ going to get go get Sami, Nicole and Crystal. Everyone knows how much they all hate Kate. Then Lucas will undoubtably join our side because A, Phillip is his brother and B, he's Sami's own personal squeeze toy so he'll go wherever she goes."   
  
"I heard that," Lucas informed Jan, who suddenly realized that everyone backstage was listening to their conversation, "And I am now officially taking Belle's side. I'm no one's squeeze toy, not even Sami's."   
  
Phillip coughed. Lucas glared at him.   
  
Mimi was all too eager to defend her best friend, "Rex and Patrick will take our side too. I know they will if I ask nicely."   
  
"I'm going to go find Kate," Belle informed anyone who was still listening, which really wasn't anyone. Jan had run off to talk to Nicole, Sami and Crystal, Lucas was still busy looking indignant over being called Sami's squeeze toy, Mimi was off recruiting Patrick and Rex and Shawn and Phillip were looking at everyone with overwhelmed expressions. Shawn looked slightly nauseated at the prospect of Belle turning this situation into a huge battle and involving people who had nothing do with his relationship with Jan and Phillip. Phillip turned to give Shawn a wry smile but Shawn could see the trepidation in his eyes.   
  
"My mom might go a little crazy," Phillip told Shawn, "Just so you're prepared."   
  
"I figured," Shawn muttered, wondering if it would be a good idea to be armed when Kate showed up. Or maybe he could just hide behind Phillip the whole time. Anything to give him at least a _little_ assurance that he could survive a fierce confrontation with a woman who Shawn assumed could probably get more than a little frightening.   
  
"Maybe Belle will get it out of her system after tonight," Phillip suggested, "Then she'll leave all of us alone."   
  
_I want everyone to leave us alone_, Shawn thought sullenly, _I don't want to fight with Phillip's mom or Belle and I don't want everyone knowing. I wish everyone would just go away._ Confrontation was the last thing Shawn wanted when his feelings were still so ambiguous. But from the looks of things, Phillip and Jan certainly weren't shying away from making a lot of noise in their defense. Shawn didn't know how they did it. In comparison to them, Shawn felt like a complete girl. They were both so strong and so good at standing up for themselves while Shawn just wanted to hide. God, did he ever need to grow a pair.   
  
"So, Belle ran off to go get Kate because she wants Kate to break up you, Phillip and Shawn?" Nicole asked dubiously once Jan had finished her story.   
  
"Kind of," Jan replied, "But I think all Kate is really going to want to do is get Phillip away from me and Shawn. So, I want you three to back me up. Sami, you have experience with Kate so you'll be a big help."   
  
"Why would I want to help you?" Sami wrinkled her nose, "You already tried to tell me about your little 'activities' with Shawn and Phillip when I told you I didn't want to hear. I don't owe you any favours."   
  
"Come on, Sami," Jan insisted, "You'll get to gang up on Kate and see her freak over the fact that Phillip is dating me and Shawn. You're honestly trying to tell me you wouldn't enjoy that?"   
  
Sami's mouth twitched into an devious smile, "Okay."   
  
Jan's eyes widened. She hadn't expected it to be that easy to convince Sami to team up with her. _The things she must be willing to do to torture Kate Roberts_, Jan thought wryly as Nicole and Crystal also agreed to take Jan's side, having their own personal issues with Kate themselves.   
  
"Great," Jan rubbed her hands together, "That means that me, you three, Phillip and Shawn are all up against Kate, Belle, Patrick, Rex and Lucas. Never mind that Lucas, Rex and Patrick don't even have a clue what's going on. We are definitely going to beat them."   
  
"Why is Lucas on Kate's side?" Sami sounded insulted, "Doesn't he care that Kate's trying to ruin his brother's relationship with the people Phillip supposedly cares about, although I still think Phillip's only with you and Shawn for physical reasons," Sami added quickly.   
  
"Well, it's more than that." Jan shot back, "And he only took their side because I said he was your squeeze toy and that you'd always be on the same side as him."   
  
"Good going," Sami rolled her eyes, "But Kate will definitely start trying to persuade Lucas to stop spending time with me and then we can get him on our side. Not that it really matters what Kate says, since tomorrow is the last day before the two weeks are up." she added grumpily.   
  
"What do you mean?" Nicole shot Sami a curious look.   
  
Sami sighed and her face contorted into an unhappy scowl, "Not that it's any of your business but Lucas and I had this... agreement that we would spend two weeks with each other trying to get our overwhelming attraction towards each other out of our systems. And now there's only tonight and tomorrow left before the two weeks are finished."   
  
"You could always pretend you forgot about the two weeks and then never say anything about it," Jan suggested.   
  
"Thanks for the advice, Jan. God knows that thought would have never even crossed my mind." Sami responded sarcastically.   
  
"Then what's the problem?" Jan demanded.   
  
"The problem is that I want to move past this stage where I'm just having sex with him." Which I won't do unless he quits this damn job, Sami added inwardly, "I miss him. Well, not his body of course, because I have that. But everything else... I want back."   
  
"How sweet," Jan cooed.   
  
"Don't make fun of me, Jan," Sami glowered at her, "It's not my fault I'm not like you. I want a real relationship with Lucas but you- you're just content because you're getting off."   
  
"That isn't true," Jan protested angrily, "Don't talk about something you know hardly anything about. I'm not going to complain about the getting off part but it's more than that. We all care about each other. So don't talk to me about being shallow and only in it for the sex because your situation is almost _exactly_ like mine, only in my case there's one extra person. So there."   
  
Sami huffed and closed her eyes in disgust. Jan leaned back in her chair and pouted childishly. Nicole and Crystal exchanged glances, silently hoping that Kate would arrive soon so that Sami and Jan would be able to fight her rather than each other. 


	27. It Spreads Like Chicken Pox

Chapter Twenty-Seven

**Author's Note: Okay, the next chapter will have a lot more Lumi in it, I'm sorry for the fact that the spotlight has been off them for the last what, four chapters? Thanks Yvonne, Lynn and DoolFan10 for the feedback on the last chapter. Doolfan10, there's a little bit of Rex and Patrick in this chapter for you ;)**

Nicole and Crystal only had to keep their eyes focused on the entrance to the club for about ten minutes before Kate and Belle burst through the door, which meant Kate must have been in a huge hurry to reach the club. Kate practically flew toward the back of the club, causing Belle to almost break into a run to keep up with the older woman. Sami and Jan followed Nicole and Crystal's eyes and watched Kate rush past their seats without even a sideways glance.

"Woah, if her Sami radar is out, then you know she has to be _really_ pissed," Sami observed, glancing at Jan, "I don't know if you're going to make it through the night alive."

"I'll be fine. I can handle Kate," Jan predicted confidently, rising from the chair, "Why are you all just sitting there? Come on, we have to go fight her!"

Jan, Sami, Nicole and Crystal reached the backstage room just in time to see Kate fling herself at her son. As the four women neared closer, they could hear Kate babbling frantically into Phillip's ear.

"Oh, baby, what are you doing to yourself? You're lucky Belle told me about this self-destructive behavior or I might never have found out! Why didn't you tell me you'd resorted to this? I would have helped you, you know that, don't you? I am your mother and I will always be here to make things better."

Phillip managed to untangle himself and took a step backwards. By this time, Mimi, Belle, Patrick, Rex and Lucas were at Kate's side and Sami, Nicole, Jan, Crystal and Shawn were at Phillip's.

"What are you talking about, mom? I'm not doing anything wrong." Phillip stated firmly, shooting Belle a pointed look.

"Not doing anything wrong, not doing anything wrong," Kate repeated to herself for a few moments, cradling the side of her face in her hand. Then, she looked up and tried to smile, "Perhaps that's true. Maybe Belle misunderstood what was going on. Tell me you didn't move in with _that_ slut," Kate pointed at Jan hatefully, "And tell me you're not involved in some mock-romantic way with _that_," Kate moved her accusing finger so it was pointing at Shawn, who she was staring at as if he was some sort of disgusting-looking space creature.

Jan already looked ready to fly at Kate in a burst of rage but somehow restrained herself while Phillip searched for a response.

"I can't do that," Phillip said finally, looking at her with all the defiance he could muster, "But I still haven't done anything wrong."

Kate let out a wail that rang through the entire backstage. Thankfully, Tyler was dancing on stage, so the only one in the room who looked up at Kate in surprise was Tanner.

"Nooo!" Kate cried, pressing her hand against her forehead, "How can this be happening? Please, God, do this to anyone but my son. This isn't _fair_."

"Would you just shut up?" Jan exploded, "Phillip can do whatever he wants. Shawn already said this to Belle but I think you need to hear it too- this isn't about you. Just because you gave birth to Phillip does not mean you can choose his lovers, or much else for that matter. You should get the hell out of this club if you don't have anything better to do than try and control Phillip's life and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out."

"I'm not listening to anything you say," Kate retorted hotly, "I don't feel the need to listen to someone who heartlessly seduces my sons into relationships with other men that he does not want to be in."

"Mom, that isn't true!" Phillip argued, "If I didn't want be in a relationship with Shawn, or Jan for that matter, I wouldn't be. It's that simple. Maybe you could at least try to understand-"

"No, I won't," Kate nearly shrieked, causing Rex, Patrick and Lucas to wince, "There's nothing to understand other than the fact that there's something very wrong with you. I don't know what Jan and Shawn have done to you but you're not acting like the person I know you really are. You're my son and I know for a fact that you are not attracted to other men, least of all men you're _related_ to. I don't know what's gotten into you but for the time being, I will hold Shawn and Jan completely responsible for this destruction of your true being-"

"Can I switch sides?" Patrick interrupted, "She's giving me a headache."

Kate's mouth fell open, "Why, how rude!"

"Maybe it would be a good idea to give Phillip a chance to finish what he was saying though," Lucas spoke up, pitying his brother for having to deal with their mother's temper tantrum. Personally, he didn't care who Phillip was dating as long as Phillip was happy. Lucas had been all for the whole 'two brothers dating two sisters thing' with him and Sami and Phillip but Belle but he wasn't going to freak out just because it hadn't happened. Granted, it _would_ take him a while to get used to the idea of Phillip liking Shawn in this way but he wasn't going to get in his brother's face about it.

"Thank you, Lucas," Phillip said while Kate glared at Lucas, "Look, mom, I get that you don't like approve of my relationships with Shawn and Jan. And there isn't much I can do about that if you're not going to be open-minded. But I'm happy with them. And I always thought that your number one priority with your children was to make sure they were happy. But if you're going to keep fighting with me about my relationship with Shawn and Jan and if you're going to keep fighting with Lucas about being with Sami, then obviously you don't care about your children's happiness that much."

"Speaking of Lucas and Sami, once I finish with Phillip, I am going to have a good long talk with you, Lucas," Kate promised, completely missing Phillip's point, "I don't understand why you haven't gotten Sami out of your life yet."

"In that case..." as a way of finishing his sentence, Lucas walked over to stand beside Sami, making it a pitiful four against eight.

Kate cried out in shock, "Lucas! How can you desert your own mother at a time like this? How can you take your brother's side when he's destroying his entire life? Shawn and Jan will ruin him in the end and then he'll be sorry. We have to stop them before it's too late." she shot another fierce look at Shawn and Jan, "You two think you can get away with this. You think you can trick my son into thinking he lusts after both of you but I will bring you down! I'll make Phillip understand that this isn't who he is. He doesn't kiss other men, he doesn't touch other men and he doesn't fall in love with promiscuous, unwholesome women like you, Jan Spears!"

"Excuse me but you're in no position to complain!" Jan shot back, "If you had your sons' best interests at heart, you would be _thanking_ me and Shawn and Sami because we keep Lucas and Phillip happy and that's all that should matter."

"It will be a hot day in the Antarctic before I thank one of you three," Kate sneered, "Especially you, Jan. Belle told me all about you. You're an insane liar. You've done something to Phillip. He's not really this way. He couldn't be. It's not possible. How could he turn into a bisexual so late in his life?"

"Well, gee, I don't know, Kate," Jan pretended to seriously consider it, "Maybe he caught it from me or Shawn. Because you know, bisexuality is incredibly contagious. It spreads like _chicken pox_!"

"It does?" Belle looked at Shawn cautiously.

"Did you just admit that you're bi?" Lucas asked Jan in surprised voice.

"You mean you didn't know that?" Jan frowned at him, "I thought _everyone_ knew that. I mean, did you really think I spent so much time with Sami, Nicole and Crystal because of their _wonderful_ personalities?"

"Excuse me?" Sami's eyes widened comically at Jan's remark.

"You heard me," Jan winked at Sami, "I've had a crush on Nicole ever since I got back to Salem and I've had a crush on Crystal since Nicole introduced us. And you... well, I'd be all over your perky ass if it wasn't for Lucas, Shawn and Phillip."

"Wow... um, I never knew," Sami looked like she didn't know whether to be petrified or offended.

"You didn't?" Jan looked disappointed, "But we all thought you knew. Nicole, Crystal and I thought that's why you sat with us. We thought you returned our feelings of attraction for you."

"You were wrong, then," Sami informed her while Lucas hid a laugh behind his hand, "I'm one-hundred percent straight, thank you very much."

"Me and Nikki are bi too," Crystal spoke up, "Well, that was probably obvious since we were both porn stars. Most porn stars we know are bi, so that they can get more work."

Nicole glared at Crystal, "Thank you for that, Crystal. I really wanted them all to know about my past profession."

Before anyone could comment on this, Patrick spoke up, "Since we've brought it up, I am too. See, it's no big deal, Mrs. Roberts."

"You like _guys_?" Mimi demanded incredulously, "Were you planning on telling me and mom anytime soon?"

"Like I said, I don't consider it a big deal," Patrick shrugged, "I've had a few boyfriends, nothing major."

Rex decided that, since everyone else was admitting to what their true sexual preferences were, he might as well too. Besides, from Kate's reaction to Phillip engaging in sexual activities with Shawn, it might just get his mother's attention for once.

"I'm bisexual too, actually," Rex admitted. Mimi gasped and Kate covered her mouth with her hand, looking faint.

"Rex, you must be joking!" Mimi looked hard at her boyfriend.

"I'm actually not. You know, when I first came to Salem, I thought guys were supposed to like other guys. I mean, I thought that was was the only explanation for why they would want to spend so much time at gyms together and play touch football in big, hot, sweaty groups and everything. I never really found an explanation for what Belle was doing with Shawn after I reached this conclusion until I realized that guys were supposed to like _girls_." Mimi was still staring at him in amazement, "I led a sheltered life, okay? Don't blame me, blame Stephano!" _I just hope they never find out the real reason I decided to move in with Shawn when he didn't want me to_, Rex though to himself in conclusion.

"Doesn't everyone use that excuse in Salem?" Kate mumbled, before raising her voice again, "This cannot be happening! Two of my sons cannot be bisexual! And what is this, national come out of the closet day? God, is _anyone_ here straight besides me?"

"Uh... I am." Lucas answered.

"Me too," Sami added while Jan choked back a disappointed sob. Belle and Mimi quickly murmured in agreement as well.

"Brady's not straight," Nicole volunteered, "I found that out when I found both Playboy and Playgirl magazines in his bedroom. I guess he need lots of those to satisfy himself with because there's no way someone like Chloe could do that job well."

"No one cares about Brady," Kate told her, running a hand through her hair in agitation, "I cannot believe this is happening. Three out of four of my sons are strippers and two out of four of them like both men and women."

Lucas chuckled, "Well, technically, Austin isn't here to let us know whether or not he's-"

"QUIET!" Kate roared, then calmed down and let out a pained moan, "Why is this happening to me? Why are all of my sons corrupted? What did I do wrong?"

"Don't even get me started," Nicole returned bluntly and Jan and Sami both burst out laughing.

"Don't laugh at me! I'm in the middle of a huge crisis, you little wenches. I'll kill you all! Especially you, Jan! You made my son love Shawn and you will _pay_!"

Kate lunged forward, her fingers bent into claws. Her hands encircled Jan's neck but before she could begin strangling Jan to the best of her strangling abilities, Jan managed to shove her away.

"Touch me like that again and your grandchildren will feel it. Oh, don't look at me like that, Sami, I didn't mean it literally."

"I hate you. I hate you and I'll make you pay," Kate swore, "You and Shawn will get what you deserves for doing this to Phillip. I'll make sure of it. You won't keep him under your sadistic, demonic spell for much longer! You'll be sorry... So very sorry..."

"Mom, I don't mean to be rude but I would appreciate it if you didn't threaten my girlfriend anymore," Phillip intervened, then smiled wickedly at Kate, "Or my boyfriend."

Kate and Shawn's mouths fell open at almost the exact same time. They were still staring at Phillip in shock when Bonnie walked backstage.

"What are you all crowding around like this?" Bonnie put her hands on her hips expectantly, "We need one of you up on stage right now! Shawn, you get up there and shake that thing for me, okay. The ladies are getting restless."

"But-" Shawn tried to protest.

"No buts," Bonnie cut him off, "Just get out there and _dance_."

Phillip turned to Jan, "I think we should go dance while in the meantime."

"That sounds good," Jan agreed, watching Kate's displeased reaction from the corner of her eye.

Phillip turned around to Shawn, "Once you finish dancing on stage, you can come out and join me and Jan. We'll be thinking about you the whole time." knowing his mother was watching, Phillip leaned over a little bit and brushed his lips against Shawn's cheek.

"Phi-liiiiiiiiippppp." Belle whined well Kate clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging into her palms.

"So, Sami," Lucas finally spoke again now that Phillip, Jan and Shawn were out of the spotlight, "Do you want to go dance with me?"

"I think that would be a lot of fun," Sami replied, smirking at Kate pointedly.

Kate's mouth tightened around the edges before she stepped forward and hissed, "You won't get away with this either, you whore. Lucas won't be with you when this is all over. You'll be in the same place Jan is and while I don't know exactly where that will be, I know it will be a cold, lonely place."

"Go screw yourself, bitch," Sami replied, her sugary sweet tone contradicting the sharpness in her words. Kate watched Sami walk away hand in hand with Lucas silently, too horrified at the night's events to say another word.

Rex sighed and turned to the Mimi and Patrick, "It would be nice if my own mom would notice the things I did instead of always devoting all her attention to Lucas and Phillip."

"I know how you could get her attention," Patrick grinned down at Rex.

"How?" Rex asked eagerly.

"By going out there and dancing with me," Patrick's grin widened, "Since she really strikes me as the homophobic type and everything."

Rex's breath caught in his throat. He couldn't believe Patrick had made such a wonderful suggestion. Rex's crush on Shawn had always led to a dead end, first because of Belle, then because of Jan, then because of Phillip and Jan. But then he had developed quite the crush on Patrick Lockhart once he had begun working at Unzipped with him. And now Mimi's sexy, single, incredibly talented, stripper-brother was volunteering to let Rex dance with him. Good God, he was a lucky man tonight.

"That sounds like a good plan to me," Rex almost squeaked, then looked at Mimi, who he was still very much in love with, despite his lustful desires for her brother, "Is it okay with you?"

Mimi rolled her eyes, "Sure, you go ahead. I hope you finally get Kate's attention, which I think might be kind of hard to do when she's already so preoccupied with Phillip and Lucas."

"Well, it never hurts to try. Come on, Rex," Patrick urged him, sounding more enthusiastic than necessary. The two of them walked out of the backstage area and out onto the dance floor. Kate and Belle were standing off to the side, their faces donning matching grimaces. Phillip and Jan were already dancing very provocatively, which, Rex assumed, was for Kate's benefit. Rex watched Jan and Phillip move against each other in a writing motion, Jan's back against Phillip's chest, then Rex turned to see the look of pure repulsion on Kate's face. Unlike Phillip and Jan, Lucas and Sami were facing each other, their lower bodies pressed tightly together as their hips rocked in time to the music. Patrick and Rex began dancing together as well and to Rex's delight, Kate pulled her eyes away from Lucas and Phillip long enough to look at Rex. Out of the corner of his eye, Rex watched her eyes go wide with disbelief.

"Looks like you're getting the attention you wanted," Patrick noted, looking at Kate as well. Rex nodded, unable to stop himself from winding his arms around Patrick's neck. He couldn't resist getting back at his mother for her lack of attention in a big way and did a facetious bump and grind into Patrick's groin. _It will be a miracle if she gets through this night without committing suicide_, Rex thought to himself, feeling the slightest twinge of guilt before looking up at Patrick again.

* * *

"This place sickens me," Kate muttered, averting her eyes from her sons to look up on stage. She eyed Shawn with contempt, hating him for what he had done to Phillip. She eyes narrowed more when she watched him begin dancing in their direction. Kate realized that she and Belle were standing right next to a group of women waving bills at Shawn to come take. 

Kate nudged Belle, "You see what he's doing up there? I think you let him get away with too much and that's why he's with Phillip and Jan now. You need to regain some control and then you will get him back. You should start by making him get off that stage right now. It's just so inappropriate."

Belle thought about this for a moment, then nodded decisively, "You're right. It's time to show Shawn Brady a thing or two. He needs to realize how much he truly misses me."

She walked up in front of the girls holding the money. Shawn had been trying to take the money from them before Belle had intervened and his arm was outstretched towards them.

Belle took hold of his arm and shook it a little, "You come down off that stage right now, Shawn."

Shawn glared at Belle and tried to shake her hand off. Infuriated by his disobedience, Belle yanked on his arm in retaliation. Unfortunately, she must have miscalculated her own strength and Belle watched in horror as Shawn lost his balance and fell off the stage and onto the ground with a thud.


	28. Sami's Private Dancer

Chapter Twenty-Eight

**Author's Note: I don't think this chapter is very interesting, so I apologize for that. There is a missing scene cut from this chapter involving Phillip, Shawn and Jan and I will link that scene to my profile later today.**

The sound of Shawn hitting the floor seemed to vibrate through the entire club. Jan and Phillip turned to see the already large crowd that had clustered around Shawn and one of them gasped in horror, although Jan wasn't which one of them it had been. Both of them pushed through the group of frantic women and knelt down beside Shawn.

"Shawn, man, you okay?" Phillip asked while he and Jan helped Shawn regain a standing position. Shawn winced a little as he got to his feet, shooting a furious look in Belle's direction.

"I think my back is broken," Shawn said slowly, not taking his dark, angry eyes off of Belle.

"Oh, no, that's awful," Jan murmured, rubbing her hand along Shawn's bare back soothingly, "My poor baby." Jan's eyes narrowed as she turned to look at Belle, "What were you thinking, stupid? You could have broken something just now."

"I don't think your back is broken though," Phillip countered.

"Well, my butt is broken then." Shawn said haughtily, feeling pleased that he had evoked an extremely guilty expression from Belle.

Phillip shook his head in disagreement, "Nah. Too much padding for that to happen."

"Thank you, Phillip," Shawn looked offended, "It's nice to know you think I have a big butt."

"I didn't say that."

"But you meant it."

"It's okay, Shawn," Jan interrupted, "Just tell me where it hurts."

"Well, my back hurts... and my stomach... and my _big fat butt_!" Shawn finished, giving Phillip another wounded look.

Jan sighed, still caressing Shawn's back comfortingly, "But does it feel like anything's really broken?"

Shawn looked at the floor, "No," he admitted sullenly.

"Okay," Jan sighed with relief, "But I still think we should take you home for tonight, since you're probably so sore after Belle pulled that little stunt." Jan directed her attention at Belle once more, "As for you... Let me make one thing clear, Miss Black, if you ever do something like that again, I will make sure Shawn gets a restraining order filed against you. You're lucky I don't kick your ass right here and now."

"What's going on here?" Bonnie demanded, throwing herself into the center of the crowd, "What just happened, Shawn?"

"Belle flipped out and pulled me off the stage," Shawn explained, "And now I feel really sick."

"Why, that's horrible!" Bonnie faced Belle, her eyes blazing with outrage, "Young lady, you can leave my club right now or I will get my lovely uniformed men to make you leave themselves."

"But I didn't mean to," Belle protested sadly, "It was an accident."

"I don't care," Bonnie's forehead creased worriedly, "No one messes with one of my employees, especially not my sexy dancers. Please leave now."

Belle backed down because she didn't want to do something Jan-like and cause a scene, then began walking towards the exit of the club. Kate reluctantly followed, still trying to decide who she should save first- Lucas, from that disgusting Sami Brady or Phillip, from his gay lover, Shawn, and his whorey mistress, Jan. This was one decision she knew she would have to sleep on.

Once Kate and Belle were gone, Jan turned to Bonnie pleadingly, "Can me and Phillip take Shawn home, Bonnie? He's really sore now and I think he needs at least the night off."

Bonnie shook her head, "I don't see why you need to take Shawn and Phillip away from work but go ahead for tonight. We still need to make sure these fine strippers are displayed here as often as possible though, so I hope this sudden pattern of playing hooky stops after this."

Phillip remembered the last time he had skipped work, the first time he and Shawn had... he could feel his face heating up but he tried to smile at Bonnie, "Sure. After tonight, I'll try and make sure it doesn't happen again."

Bonnie brightened visibly, "That's good. You two just make sure you give Shawn there a lot of TLC tonight, okay?"

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Jan replied with a grin as she, Phillip and Shawn turned to leave Unzipped.

* * *

Sami pushed open the door to her apartment once she and Lucas had returned home after Lucas' shift at Unzipped. Sami had secretly wished that she and Lucas could have left when Jan, Shawn and Phillip had but Bonnie was also pretty annoyed with Lucas for skipping work. Sami thought Bonnie getting annoyed with Lucas taking a day or two off work a week was completely unjustified, since it appeared to Sami that she gave Lucas, Rex, Phillip and Patrick more hours than she did any of the other strippers. Sami could understand that maybe Bonnie favored her own son but that didn't serve as an explanation for why she gave Lucas and his brothers so many hours. She would have to ask Lucas about that.

And Lucas had only skipped work for her once, although Sami wouldn't have minded if he left the club early every night. It just meant there would be less time for those other pitiful women to see Lucas dancing with practically nothing on and more time for her to see Lucas with absolutely nothing on, making those perverts watching Lucas on stage complete and total suckers. Besides, if Lucas' leaving work early meant her getting to watch hot private dances like Lucas' last one, then yes, she definitely wanted him to do it every night, despite Bonnie's complaints.

"You're quiet," Lucas observed with a tiny smirk, "I didn't expect that, especially not after everything that happened tonight."

Judging from the playful expression on his face, Lucas was obviously remembering Jan's confession about her feelings for Sami. Sami was unable to stifle an external cringe, so she tried to cover it up with a shrug.

"I was thinking," Sami smiled at Lucas, trailing one finger down his chest, her fingers tugging on the buttons of his shirt, "About that private dance you gave me a few nights ago. I really enjoyed that. Especially that part where you..." she broke in mid-sentence, her fingers leaving his shirt to press against the front of his jeans, "Touched yourself here." she finished in a low, throaty voice, making him forget all about Jan, "I hope that you'll do it again for me soon."

Lucas swallowed hard, feeling his body react almost immediately to Sami's touch, "I guess I could do it again sometime but I prefer it when you touch me... there," he finished, licking his lips as Sami pressed her hand against the zipper of his jeans a little bit harder.

Her eyes lit up at his words, "I'd love to," she told him, "I guess we should get going then,"

Sami's arms fell around Lucas and her mouth opened for him as they began stumbling towards her bedroom. Lucas' hands slid down Sami's rib-cage to grasp her hips while he walked backwards. This had been general practice for them ever since their two week agreement had been made. Not taking their hands off each other, kissing like crazy, fulfilling their twenty (and that was on a slow night) orgasm schedule... it was like a routine that wasn't very routine. Every night felt like a completely new experience to Sami, the way she felt this need to reacquaint herself with every part of Lucas after the dancing he did on stage in front of all those women, the reacquainting she felt like she needed to do in order to convince herself that Lucas was still with her and not some other woman he had found at the club. And he was still with her. For tonight and tomorrow, at least.

Sami tried to cease thoughts of the two week deal but failed miserably. Just thinking about the fact that those two weeks would inevitably come to an end tomorrow made the prospect of tearing off Lucas' clothes and spending the night making love with him a tiny bit less enjoyable, which certainly said a lot. As Sami crawled onto the bed after Lucas, her hands began undoing the buttons of his shirt and she willed herself to push thoughts of anything but Lucas out of her mind for the time being.

Sami discovered that she wasn't going to have a problem with that.

In these two sin-filled, earth-shattering weeks, Sami had become very good at 'reacquainting' herself with Lucas. Not only had she become very good at it, but there were few things she enjoyed more these days. Yes, she could definitely get used to saying hello to Lucas Roberts every night. Saying hello to every inch of tan skin, to every muscle and hollow, to Lucas' tight, sinewy this and hard, gorgeous that and of course, what had to be one of her favourite parts of his body. His shirt was already gone, so Sami's hands slid down to the top of his pants, unbuttoning, unzipping, sliding denim down his thighs until there it was. Sami bit down on her lower lip as her hand encircled Lucas, feeling him pulse in her hand. Lucas grinned up at her as her hand glided up and down rhythmically. _Hellloooo, Lucas Roberts_, Sami thought, grinning back at him.

"I still don't understand why it is that you always get me naked first and then try and distract me from taking off your clothes," Lucas frowned at her just before his breath caught as a result of her tightening her grasp on his throbbing shaft.

"Because you look good naked," Sami responded simply, "And I like touching you,"

Lucas' hips thrust upwards a little bit into her hand and he moaned a little, "But the reverse it true. And I want those clothes off now."

"Well, I'm busy," Sami returned stubbornly, more to give him a hard time than anything else. He moaned again, louder this time, as Sami traced her fingers up his length, her touched slow and skilled.

"Sami!" Lucas sat up and kissed her lips hard, his mouth pulling her lower lip into his mouth and sucking it, distracting her. Sami let out a low moan as his tongue delved expertly in and out of her mouth. She was so caught up in the wet, hungry kiss that it took her a moment to realize that the pulsing warmth of Lucas was no longer contained in her hand. Making a disappointed noise, Sami pulled her mouth off Lucas'. Lucas seized the moment and pulled up her shirt.

"That was rude, Lucas," Sami informed him with playful indignance.

"You should know me well enough to know I don't like taking no for an answer," Lucas responded, throwing the shirt to the side and unclasping her bra from the back.

Rolling her eyes, Sami decided it was time to get him back, "So, tonight really was interesting,"

"It was," Lucas replied absent-mindedly, tugging her skirt down her slender legs.

"Especially the part where everyone found out about Phillip and Shawn," Lucas was now making quick work of removing the last article of clothing from her body, "How do you feel about that?"

"It doesn't bother me," Lucas leaned her back against the bed, his hands running over the terrain of hot, silky flesh, "Phillip can do whatever he wants. We all have our own preferences and I respect that."

"But still," Sami pressed on, despite the fact that she knew Lucas wasn't usually much of a talker in bed, "Isn't Shawn his nephew or something? If he's willing to commit incest, I wonder how he feels about you,"

"Sami..." Lucas' voice was filled with warning as his fingers whispered over her flesh and his tongue smoothed over one coral pink nipple, then continued with a few more firmer strokes until she gasped.

"I'm just saying," Sami said defensively, her hands spearing into his dark, spiky hair as she arched towards his mouth, "If he's willing to get involved with Shawn like that, I wonder if he find you attractive. I wonder if he wants you the way he wants Shawn."

"Why would you wonder something like that?" Lucas sounded a little annoyed now, but his lips trailed across her collarbone lovingly as soon as he finished asking the question.

"Because Phillip's kind of cute," Sami returned, deep in thought, "It would be kind of interesting seeing you two kiss or something. Hot too. And Kate would probably throw herself over a bridge if she saw-" Sami's body shook with laughter, "You... and Phillip... Wow, it makes me all tingly just thinking about it."

"Dammit, Sami, how am I supposed to want to have sex now?" Lucas demanded, burying his face in her stomach, "Smoobrouhaha."

"What?"

"I said, you are making this a very anti-climatic moment for me." Lucas repeated, lifting his face to glare at her. Sami was still for a moment, then gave him the most winning smile she could manage without bursting into laughter.

"Tingle, tingle," was all she said, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

Lucas groaned and raised his head to nuzzle his cheek against Sami's, "I think that you've been spending too much time around Jan, Nicole and Crystal," he muttered.

"Probably," Sami shifted a little bit, reveling in the feel of Lucas' warm, naked body weighing down on her. Despite his comments about her making him not want to have sex anymore, she could still feel him erect and ready, hard and hot against her thigh.

He raised his head and caught her bottom lip because his teeth, suckling gently for a moment, "No more Phillip talk, okay? I love my brother and he loves me but not in that way. He's perfectly happy with Shawn. Sorry for ruining your tingly experience."

"You better be," Sami pretended to pout but the contentment radiating from her deep blue eyes gave her true feelings away. Lucas brought his lips back down to hers, sucking, nibbling, licking along the roof of her mouth until both of them had to pull away gasping for air. Lucas kissed his way down her neck as he positioned himself, centering Sami between his strong legs. His hard body rocked against hers, finding her wet, slick center and easing himself inside.

Both of them were breathing heavily to regain their regular breathing patterns after they had finished. Sami found it truly amazing that sex with Lucas never got boring, despite the fact that they had probably been together so much the past two weeks that everything should have been boring and predictable. But unlike it had gotten with her last boyfriend, Brandon, it never was. Instead, Lucas managed to relight a hot, burning sensation inside her over and over. She could now understand how he held those perverted women's interests night after night. But it was a million times better for her when she was here alone with him, when he was her own private dancer. Turning she ran her hands down his firm, defined abdomen, remembering her earlier musings.

"Lucas, why does Bonnie make you, your brothers and Patrick strip at the club more than any of the other strippers?" she asked.

Lucas seemed to think about it for a moment before finally replying, "I think it has something to do with the eligibility requirement."

"The what?"

"There was an eligibility requirement to get a job stripping at Unzipped," Lucas explained patiently, a slightly arrogant smile trying to force it's way to the surface, "To strip there, you had to be, um, to put it in Bonnie's crude terms, 'hung like a horse'."

"Oh my God," Sami sat up a little bit in the bed, "I can't believe she would have such little tact." _Even if it is true_, Sami admitted to herself, her eyes unable to stop their descent to that particular region of Lucas' body.

"I know. But she's normally a pretty nice boss, so I can't complain. Anyways," Lucas continued, "I think me, Patrick, Rex and Phillip are the most... hung, so she makes us work the most. In fact, I think Shawn barely made the cut but Bonnie still lets him work regularly because he's Mimi's friend. Or at least I heard her say something like that one time."

Sami snickered, "I wonder if Jan knows. Well, at any rate, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that I have the sexiest, most, as Bonnie would say, hung, most talented stripper in my bed right now and I intend to enjoy every minute of it." without another word, Sami rolled over so one leg was slung over Lucas', then brought her mouth back down to cover his.


	29. Place Holder

This is a place holder for chapter twenty-nine. It is not archived on because of the m/m slash (Mostly Rex/Patrick and group Interaction in this chapter). This chapter is linked in my profile.


	30. Place Holder

This is a place holder for chapter thirty. It is not archived on because of the highly explicit m/m slash. This chapter is linked in my profile.


	31. Last Chance

Chapter Thirty-One  


**Author's Note: Okay, I really despise this chapter. It might just be the content I didn't like writing but I think it just turned out crappy in every way possible. I would re-write it, but I hated writing this chapter enough the first time enough so I'm not doing it again. My apologies in advance :(.**

The night Sami had been dreading was almost to an end.

The air conditioner hummed, neutralizing the humid warmth of Lucas' bedroom. Slits of sunlight streamed through halfway closed blinds, silently announcing the fifteenth morning that would end the two week agreement. Lucas hadn't mentioned the end of the two weeks the night before and Sami had long since decided that she would be the last person to bring it up.

Lucas was still asleep, his forehead a pressing into Sami's hair, his slow, steady breaths spilling onto Sami's collarbone. Sami was awake though. She lazily trailed her fingertips along Lucas' spine, glad that she had stayed at his apartment for the night. Over the two week period she had spent with Lucas, the two of them had only slept in the same apartment about half the time. Sami guessed that Lucas felt the same way she did- that spending too much time together without actually having sex would be breaking the rules of their deal.

But she wanted to break the rules. She wanted to do more than sleep with him, but now that the two weeks were over, she probably wouldn't even be able to do that. Lucas would wake up, kick her out of his apartment, and go back to stripping in front of hundreds of lecherous woman. Sami felt like a hand was closing around her throat as she conjured up the scenario, and her eyes were squeezed together so tightly that it made her eyelids burn with stinging, pent-up tears and overwhelming pressure.

Sami suddenly wanted to knock the arm stretched across her stomach away from her. She wanted to push Lucas out of his own bed and somehow make him feel as deserted as she felt. She shifted positions on the bed, disrupting the comfortable molding of their bodies. Lucas murmured drowsily but remained asleep, which allowed the sudden tension from the fear of Lucas' awakening to leave Sami's body. She resented him for making her feel like this without saying a word, she loathed the unsettling, compulsive need to stay with him but she still wanted him to sleep. She wanted to be able to hold off on the unpleasant for as long as possible, she wanted to keep being held by him before he woke up and inevitably brought everything to an abrupt stop.

Sami was still torn between wanting to leave before the rejection occurred and snuggling closer to the endlessly warm and pliant body. Finally, due to lack of self-control more than anything else, she opted for the latter, her head sliding to one side until her mouth rested against his shoulder. No matter how many good things she had to say about sex with Lucas, she still loved being with Lucas no matter what the circumstance and there was certainly something to be said about moments like these. No sex, no talking, just shared body heat, unconscious affection and comfort. It wasn't sexual, or even erotic, it was simply intimate, and somehow even more private than the times they made love were.

She wanted Lucas for so much more than sex. Knowing that made Sami grind her teeth together with frustration, because she didn't know how to tell him that. She couldn't reveal her feelings, not when he was _all_ about sex now, he was all about sex and exposing himself to everyone who was willing to look (which was probably 99 of Salem's females and at least 50 of Salem's males, considering how many bisexuals there turned out being in Salem). Sami knew she would never be able to find a way to admit the truth about how she felt until he left his stripping job at Unzipped for good.

Sami was so distracted by her worries and contemplations that she didn't notice Lucas opening his eyes and slowly awakening. When she finally did notice Lucas staring down at her, she felt her heart drop like a brick of solid cement.

"Hi," Lucas said, his voice low and raspy with sleep.

"Hi," Sami whispered back, twisting around so her cheek was flattened against his chest. For an awkward stretch of time, neither of them uttered a word. Sami's body seemed to vibrate with fear as she waited for Lucas to speak, and she prayed that Lucas was unable to sense the almost indistinct tremors. She remained unmoving, forcing her eyes to stay open, not even blinking. Sami knew what was coming next, the same way a person knew the roar of thunder would follow a stripe of lightning during a storm. She knew that any minute Lucas would tell her-

"Do you know what today is?" Lucas questioned her suddenly, like he was reading her mind and fulfilling her expectation.

As soon as Lucas asked the question, Sami's muscles went slack, not with relief but with disappointment. Her eyes finally fluttered shut, but she didn't speak.

Lucas pressed forward, "I guess since this is the end of the two weeks, we need to talk about it."

"Actually, we don't," Sami snapped in return, rolling away from him and draping her arm over the edge of the bed, "I can just leave."

She barely had time to touch her fingers to the carpet in an attempt to retrieve the clothes she had carelessly discarded the night before when Lucas took hold of her shoulders and rolled her back over so she met his serious gaze.

"Is that what you really want to do?" he asked, his expression darkly intense.

Sami's nails sank into her palms, creating crescent-shaped indents in the soft skin as Sami willed herself not to respond, because she knew her answer was something she didn't want to voice aloud in front of Lucas.

"Just listen to me, okay?" Lucas paused, collecting his thoughts, "I knew we both agreed to start this thing for a limited period of time in order to get over each other, to stop wanting each other. I don't know about you, but it hasn't worked for me. If anything, I just want you more."

Sami could easily follow what he was saying. She was undergoing the same thing he was, the ravenous, insatiable feeling that made her feel like a junkie who needed her fix.

When Lucas saw nothing but comprehension on Sami's face, he moved on, "I want to keep you in my bed, Sami. I want to keep you in my arms, the same way you are right now." Carefully, he drew her closer, her legs entangling with his, "I want to keep you, period. All of you, not just your body. I still care about you and don't want to end what we could have without telling you how I feel."

Sami resisted the urge to close her arms around Lucas tighter and rub his mouth raw with grateful kisses. She hadn't allowed herself to visualize such a desirable outcome but now that Lucas had taken this direction, she felt like everything was suddenly locking into place. Lucas still loved her and she still loved him. They would spend the rest of their lives together, eventually getting married, being a family with Will and supporting themselves through Lucas' stripping job-

The jarring reminder of Lucas' job made such an impact that Sami physically recoiled. She had gotten so caught up in reveling in the knowledge that Lucas still wanted a future with her that she had let g-strings, Bonnie Lockhart and screaming, money-waving, sex-crazed women temporarily leave her mind. But after her lurch back to reality, she knew she had to be sensible and consider her own insecurities before jumping into a more serious relationship with Lucas.

Lucas had felt Sami flinch seconds before and was looking at her with evident concern, "What's wrong, Sami?"

"Nothing." Sami answered, "I want to be with you, Lucas. I really do," she hadn't meant for the words to sound so hesitant and uncertain, but because of the words Sami knew would follow, they had ended up coming across that way, "But I can't. I can't unless you... quit your job." the last three words were a flimsy whisper.

"My job?" Lucas' forehead was creased into a frown, "But why?"

Sami sent him a look of disbelief. Her annoyance with his ignorance over her feelings about him working at Unzipped helped bring the conviction back into her voice when she spoke a second time, "Stop pretending you don't know what I'm talking about. You know how I felt about you working at that strip club from the beginning."

"I may know how you feel, but that doesn't mean I know why. I just don't see why you're so set on getting me to quit." Lucas returned.

Sami's irritation level went up a notch, "Then maybe you should use your brain. I have plenty of reasons for not wanting you to work there. To start with, Will's coming back at the end of August. I don't want him to know where you've been working. And if we're going to have a relationship, I want to be the only woman in your life."

"You will be. My working at Unzipped won't change that."

"Yes it will!" Sami protested, "I will not stay involved with you if you're going to continue getting paid to make other women horny. When you're on stage dancing around in those skimpy costumes, every woman there wants you. They would pay money to put their hands on you, just like they pay to look at you naked, and it's only a matter of time before one of those depraved bitches lures you away from me!"

Lucas' frown deepened, "So, what you're trying to say is, if I work in an environment where women want me that I won't be able to control myself and that I'll _cheat_ on you?"

"Exactly!" Sami didn't notice the stricken expression on Lucas' face as she surged forward, "I don't want to lose you to another woman and I don't want anyone to see you undressing but me. I want to be the only one who sees you like this." her fingers journeyed up his exposed arm. Lucas jerked away from her touch as if she had electrocuted him, muttering something unintelligible.

"What did you say?" Sami asked, finally seeing the unhappy, inflexible expression he was wearing.

"I said, I'm not quitting my job." Lucas' mouth was set in a hard, determined line, "You can have me and my job or you can't have me at all. It's your choice but I'm not giving up my job."

"Why not? You can't actually enjoy it that much," Sami responded, trying desperately to figure out where Lucas' sudden anger was stemming from.

"It doesn't matter if I enjoy it or not," Lucas said furiously, "What matters is that you don't trust me and I'm not going to encourage that distrust by leaving Unzipped. Besides, maybe I do enjoy working there." Lucas added with a taunting smirk, attempting to deflect his own hurt and send it back to Sami.

Sami's own temper flared up and she shoved Lucas away from her, "You probably do enjoy what you do, now that I think about it. You probably do enjoy having all those women lusting after you. What was I thinking? You don't need me, you've got a club full of skanky women to choose from."

Sami was pulling on her clothes when Lucas rose from the bed, "I don't want a club full of women, I want you. I just need you to trust me."

"Why should I?" Sami demanded savagely, "You aren't giving me any reason to. You won't give up your slut job for me when you know how it makes me feel. And if you'll undress for strange women, then who knows what else you'll do for them."

"That's bullshit, Sami," Lucas wrenched his boxers over his hips roughly, "You've seen the way we operate there. I never touch any of my customers except you. You're the one who gets all touchy-feely with other men."

"Oh my God, don't even try and bring that up when you're the one who's wrong right now."

"I'll bring up whatever I want to bring up. That situation was what started this whole thing. If you hadn't kissed that man, I never would have started working at Unzipped." Lucas told her accusingly.

"Don't blame me! No one forced you to start working there. You only worked there to get back at me and if you really want us to have a future, you wouldn't keep trying to get revenge on me by staying at Unzipped." Sami reasoned through clenched teeth.

"I wasn't trying to get back at you. I was trying to forget about you. Ask Rex and Phillip if you don't believe me, it was their idea." Lucas told her.

"I don't need to talk to Rex or Phillip because I believe you. And I know if you keep working at Unzipped that you will forget about me. Don't you get it? I'm trying to protect myself from getting hurt. Can't you at least try to be understanding?" Sami slipped her foot into her sandal.

"What I don't understand is how you can be so ridiculously paranoid," Lucas burst out, "I'm not going to forget about you. I love you, Sami, and my job isn't going to make a difference in our relationship."

It was as if Sami hadn't heard the last sentence he had said, "You don't get it at all. You should actually listen to me when I tell you how your fucking job makes me feel instead of being an insensitive asshole."

"At least I'm not being a distrusting, selfish bitch!" Lucas shot back fiercely.

Sami's temper spiraled out of control.

"No, you're being a goddamn _slut_, Lucas!" Sami screamed, "You don't want to quit because you like having all those women looking at you, you love knowing that they all want what's in your g-string. You're just refusing to quit because you're being a stupid whore."

Lucas' back was rigid and his eyes glittered with warning, "Don't, Sami."

"You know what? Just forget it. I don't want to be with you anyway. You're just like your mother. You might as well start selling sex to women as a side job. Too bad Stefano's dead or else you could have worked for him too." Lucas reeled back a step, and his eyes became flooded with shock and hurt.

"I don't care if I never see you again. You're nothing but the town _bicycle_- everyone gets a ride. I'm just glad I got my turn before those other streetwalkers had a chance to contaminate you with their STD's." with that final note and a haughty toss of her hair, a fully-dressed Sami accelerated towards the door, rushing out of the apartment before Lucas had a chance to rejoin the conversation. Of course, Sami realized that she wouldn't have to worry about that; Lucas made no move to chase after her.

It was only after Sami had retreated into her own apartment that the force of the last five minutes hit her. It was like an anvil had suddenly dropped onto her head. She had lost her temper and had been feeling instead of thinking about what she had been saying. All of her anger, rejection and hurt had bubbled out, her brain had just turned off the logic and reasoning switch and turned the emotional intensity on high. And even thought she knew she had had a right to be angry with Lucas, she had went too far. Her words replayed in her own head relentlessly until she bit down on her lower lip so hard that it made the metallic tang of blood fill her mouth. _How the hell could I have said those things to him?_ Sami wondered with disbelief, the words word 'slut' and 'whore' bouncing around in her head like echoes in a cave.

Tears began to spring from her eyes and fell at an unwavering rate as sharp sobs wracked her body. She curled up on her couch and let her tears spill over, realizing that after the argument she had just had with Lucas, her last chance at holding on to the man she loved was officially gone.


	32. Place Holder

This is a place holder for chapter thirty-two. It is not archived on because of the highly explicit m/m slash. This chapter is linked in my profile.


	33. Sex Muffin To The Rescue

Chapter Thirty-Three

* * *

Lucas trudged into Unzipped's dressing room late that evening, his slumped shoulders revealing his lack of excitement, excitement which was usually in abundance on nights he was scheduled to work. But before that night, the club had never caused so much damage to his relationship with Sami either. The little fights he had had over his job with her in the past had done nothing to prepare him for the disastrous argument the discussion of Lucas' stripping work had led to that morning.

The usual crowd was already backstage when Lucas got there. Not in the friendliest of moods, Lucas stood near the door with his arms crossed, wondering how long he could stay undetected. Patrick and Rex certainly seemed preoccupied and after a few minutes of observing them, Lucas decided that they were being more affectionate with each other than usual. Rex was helping Patrick get dressed, and Rex's hands brushed against different places on Patrick's body so unnecessarily and so frequently that Lucas had to stop watching them but it did make him wonder what was going on between those two. Phillip and Shawn weren't any less physically open, and the sight of those two hugging and kissing was still something Lucas wasn't used to seeing.

But unlike Lucas, all four of them were grinning and laughing and having a good time. _At least the majority of us are happy to be here_, Lucas thought, his hostility towards the club and everything in it resurfacing and expanding. He knew it was childish to blame the club for losing Sami. He could have told her he would quit, he could have left the job to make her feel secure. But he hadn't. He had chosen the club over Sami.

To his left, Rex ran his hand down Patrick's bare back. To his right, Shawn smacked Phillip's ass. Somewhere in between them, Bonnie stood flirting with Tanner while Max twisted around and gnawed at his tiny g-string unhappily.

God. He had chosen _this_ over Sami?

But he knew that the club wasn't what he had chosen over Sami. He had chosen trust over Sami. Sami didn't trust him, Sami believed he was capable of cheating on her. When he had done everything he could to convince her that he wouldn't leave her for someone else, she hadn't listened. Even when he had told her that he loved her she hadn't even heard him because she had been too busy assuming he would run off with another woman if he stayed with Unzipped.

By not believing in him, Sami had betrayed his trust and his love. He couldn't have a relationship with her, especially if she really did think he was a slut and all the other things she had called him. Until Sami realized that there was nothing strong enough to tempt him away from her, from the woman he was in love with, he was going to keep working at Unzipped, no matter how stubborn it was.

"Honey, what's the hold-up? Why aren't you changing yet?" Bonnie had noticed Lucas and was walking towards him. Because bubbly, overenthusiastic Bonnie was one of the last people Lucas wanted to talk to, he didn't even try to force a smile onto his face.

"I'll go do that right now," Lucas replied abruptly, moving past Bonnie. Her mouth hanging open the tiniest bit, Bonnie's attention shifted to Phillip and Shawn.

"It looks like someone isn't in a very good mood tonight," Bonnie said more to herself than Phillip as she clicked her tongue, "Well, that's a shame. I guess he won't be in the mood to try out one of the new cages. I suppose there's always tomorrow night though."

"Cages?" Shawn looked at Bonnie in surprise, his curiosity piqued.

"That's right," Bonnie's smile stretched across her face proudly, "I bought two strip cages for the club. Isn't that wonderful? I just know you two will have fun in them. In fact, I would be ecstatic if you two agreed to do a dance together in one of the cages sometime."

Phillip nodded without hesitation, "I wouldn't mind doing that. What do you think, Shawn?"

Still a little intimidated by the idea of going back into a cage after spending so long being trapped inside one earlier that summer, Shawn stalled, "Maybe. But not tonight. We can tell Jan we're going to do it, then make her wait for a while." Shawn added, hoping Phillip didn't hear the catch in his voice.

"Sure," Phillip wasn't watching Shawn, but was shooting worried looks in Lucas' direction instead, "Hang on, I'm going to see what's wrong with Lucas."

Phillip began walking away and he wasn't the only one watching Lucas anymore. With his shirt off and a sullen expression darkening his face, he looked inviting and unavailable at the same time. Shawn let a swish of air through his lips. Phillip had the hottest brothers. They weren't as hot as Phillip, but they were still fun to look at.

Phillip reached his brother, "Hey, man, what's going on with you tonight?"

"Nothing," Lucas turned away from Phillip and searched for an outfit.

"Just tell me, Lucas," Phillip dug a little deeper, "You can talk about it. Why are you so pissed off? What happened?"

Lucas kept his distance, "Go play with Shawn."

"Not until you talk to me. What did Sami do?"

Lucas jerked his head up and glared at Phillip, "Who says it has anything to do with her?"

"No one, I'm just taking a wild guess," Phillip answered dryly, "Are you going to fill me in or not?"

"There isn't a lot to say," Lucas did his best to sound unaffected, "Sami and I... broke up."

"Were you ever even dating?" Phillip's forehead creased inquisitively.

"No. Maybe. I don't know." Lucas grimaced, "That isn't the point. The point is that she doesn't want to have anything to do with me because she thinks I'm a cheap, sleazy jerk that's going to cheat on her because I work here."

"Ouch," Phillip patted his shoulder sympathetically, "Maybe you just took whatever she said too hard. I'm sure she doesn't actually think that."

Lucas uttered a harsh-sounding laugh, "I believe she called me the town bicycle and said that everyone gets a ride."

Something flashed across Phillip's face, "What the hell? How can she can call you that when there's people like Rex around?"

"I heard that!" Rex yelled from his position next to Patrick.

"So? It's true." Phillip retorted, "You dumped Mimi and went straight to her brother afterwards."

"That's because Mimi and I had already grown apart. I can't help being interested in Patrick. I have been for a long time." Rex shot back defensively, "And at least I'm not dating both of them at once!"

"I'm not dating both Shawn and Jan at once. We're all dating each other."

"Right, and that makes it _so_ much better. Never mind that Shawn is your nephew or whatever he is. You're the slut, not me!"

Phillip looked ready to hurl himself at Rex, but managed to hold back. He ignored Rex and focused on Lucas, "See how wrong Sami is? It's completely ridiculous to call you a slut, especially when you're compared to your easy brothers."

"I'm not easy!" Rex roared. Phillip just rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, Phil," Lucas threw him a weak smile, "I don't think Sami sees it that way. She said she wouldn't stay with me unless I quit working here. I would give this up for her under any other circumstances, but I feel like if I quit, it'll be like admitting that I have no self-control and know that I'd cheat on her if I keep my job."

"You did the right thing," Phillip told him, "Sami needs an attitude adjustment. No one talks to my brother like that. She doesn't deserve you."

Lucas managed an amused half-smirk in response to his brother's anger-tainted attempt at making him feel better, "If you say so."

"I'm serious," Phillip fumed, "She had no right to say whatever she said to you. Dammit, now I'm pissed too." He looked at Lucas hopefully, "But you feel better, right?"

"Yeah, I guess I do." Lucas answered reluctantly.

Phillip exhaled with relief. He knew he was lucky that Lucas was too busy being upset over losing Sami to be pissed at him. After all, Phillip had been the one that had pushed him into working at Unzipped. In all honesty, Phillip did feel guilty because he knew he had to assume part of the responsibility for Sami and Lucas' fight. Seeing Lucas upset wouldn't do anything to make him feel less guilty, so Phillip was glad he had been able to make Lucas feel even the tiniest bit better.

"Lucas, I am sor-" Phillip started to apologize but Bonnie began clapping her hands loudly to get their attention, cutting him off.

"All right, Lucas, baby, time for you to dance," Bonnie's eyes were full of concern, contrasting the cheerful sound of her voice, "Will you be okay?"

Lucas masked the rest of his unhappiness with a grin, "Why wouldn't I be?"

As Lucas began to walk away, Bonnie thanked Phillip, "I do hope you got through to him. He seems happier."

Phillip followed Lucas' path with his eyes, "I hope so."

* * *

Lucas stepped onto the stage, the faces of the women in the crowd changing colours under the inconsistent, flashing lights. Before the music started, he turned to the side of the stage Sami, Nicole, Crystal and Jan always sat on. His eyes met three questioning gazes: Jan's, Nicole's and Crystal's. Each one of them was silently asking the same question, asking him where Sami was. Lucas felt his stomach twist when he saw the women sitting to Jan's right and Crystal's left. He knew that on a normal day, Sami would have been occupying one of those chairs.

But now he would be surprised if Sami ever set foot in the club again. He knew her well enough to know that she had probably decided to boycott Unzipped for the rest of her life. She didn't want anything to do with him, and Lucas knew that meant she would stay as far away from the club as possible.

Lucas didn't feel like dancing anymore. He sucked in a deep breath and began to move fast enough to match the pace of the music while inwardly he anticipated the song's end.

* * *

"He looks sad," Jan noted, watching Lucas dance on the stage, "We shouldn't ask him where Sami is. They're probably fighting."

"They are," a voice confirmed and Jan jumped at the feeling of the familiar pair of lips kissing their way down her neck. Jan swivelled around in her seat to face Phillip.

"Yeah, Sami was being really awful. She sucks and I hate her now. She was calling my brother a slut and said she thought he would cheat on her if he kept working here." Phillip informed Jan.

"Haha," Nicole seemed to find this funny, but was silenced by a pointed look from Phillip.

"Wow," Jan was quiet for a moment as she thought about Phillip's news, then got to her feet, "Let's go get her."

"Go get her?" Nicole repeated blankly.

"Yeah, you have to come with me because I don't know where she lives," Jan said to Nicole, "It's not as much fun hanging out here without Sami around to annoy. Besides, I won't be missing much. I see Phillip and Shawn naked more often than I see them fully-clothed."

"Whose fault is that?" Phillip replied, stepping forward and nibbling her earlobe.

"Mine and I enjoy every minute of it." Jan added, smiling up at Phillip, "And think of me getting your brother and his lover back together a little favour I'm doing for you indirectly. You'll be happy if they get back together, won't you?"

"If Sami stops being mean and saying evil things about Lucas," Phillip gave Jan a grateful kiss, "Good luck, my little sex muffin."

Watching Jan and Phillip look at each other so adoringly had been sickening Nicole and hearing Phillip's mushy pet name was the last straw for Nicole. She stood up and began pulling Crystal towards the exit.

"Okay, if you want to go get her, then let's go right now." Nicole urged Jan, who quickly left Phillip to catch up with the two women.


	34. Hurt

Chapter Thirty-Four

* * *

Nicole drove Jan to Sami's apartment building, showed Jan the way to Sami's apartment, then stepped back to let Jan do the rest. Nicole didn't mind doing a little bit of work to help reunite Sami and Lucas because for one thing, Sami had proved to be tolerable and even fun at times, and for another thing, Jan wanted to get them back together. After all the favours Jan had done for Nicole, Nicole knew it was only fair to give a little bit back every now and then.

After knocking several times, Jan was met with silence from Sami's side of the door. Jan gave an impatient huff and rapped her knuckles against the door more noisily.

"Sami, why won't you open the door?" Jan called, "Don't you want to see us?"

Another short stretch of time went by before a muffled voice responded, "No, I don't. Go away."

"No," Jan replied, checking to see if the door was locked. It was. "We just want to talk to you and we're not going to leave until you let us."

Minutes passed, but finally Sami opened the door slowly, "You are annoying. If having two bisexual boyfriends can't keep you preoccupied enough to stop you from bothering people, then I don't think anything can."

Jan chose to look past the scowl contorting Sami's face and looked into Sami's eyes instead. The deadness in Sami's gaze made her look as if she was closed off from everything, as if she didn't care anymore. Just looking at the expression on Sami's face let Jan know that she must have underestimated the brutality of the fight Lucas and Sami had engaged in.

"We don't want to bother you. We just want to know what's happening with you and Lucas." Jan stated, peering inside at the flickering television screen, "Hey, what are you watching? Is it porn?"

"No." Sami replied, shooting Jan a disgusted look.

Visibly disappointed, Jan sighed, "Okay, then I don't want to watch."

Jan slid past Sami and walked over to the couch. She sat down, making a big show of ignoring the television screen .

"Now you need to explain to us why you're so upset." Jan instructed Sami.

"It's nothing you need to worry about." Sami tried to laugh, to make it look like she wasn't hurt. "I've never felt better. I don't need Lucas anyways. There are plenty of other people I could have."

"Oh, please. Maybe you could get your little sister, Belle, to buy that but we're not stupid." Jan spoke up, looking down at Sami with disdain, "I'm sure you'll feel less shitty once the three of us give you advice."

"I doubt that, but fine." Relenting, Sami proceeded to tell them what had happened. She filled them in on the details calmly, carelessly, as if she had been an outsider simply watching the argument.

"So, he wouldn't quit his job. He got mad and said I didn't trust him. I lost my temper, started yelling, called him a slut and left." Sami finished, her throat suddenly feeling tight. Even though she had told the story in a completely objective and unmoved way, she still felt raw and exposed and she hated it.

Jan, Nicole and Crystal didn't speak for a few minutes and Sami was thankful for that. Then Jan's voice sliced through the air with one piercing question.

"What are you going to do to get him back?"

Sami made a frustrated noise and threw her hands up in the air, "Did you hear a _word_ I just said? Lucas is the one who won't quit his job because he doesn't even try to see how I feel about it. He doesn't get that I feel like I'm not the only one who he's giving himself to when he gets on that stage. He hurt me. I'm not going to go back to him and make some sort of compromise that will make me feel like I've been cheated out of something in the long run." Her eyes turned liquid and she turned her head to the side, not wanting them to see her cry.

"But I'm sure you hurt him too." Jan reminded her.

"I don't care," Sami sniffed, "That wouldn't have happened if he hadn't hurt me first."

"You both hurt each other," Jan concluded, "That's what happens when you're in love with someone. People in love hurt each other sometimes but then they go back and make it all better and everything feels perfect again. They fight over stupid things, like Belle, then they realize they shouldn't be fighting and make up and start giving each other head..." Jan trailed off dreamily, losing herself in her own thoughts for a moment before returning to reality and to Sami's dilemma.

"First of all, don't compare me and Lucas to Phillip and Shawn" Sami's voice shook with her next words, "Second of all, I only let people hurt me in moments of weakness. I don't like feeling weak. I'm not going to let Lucas degrade me like that ever again. If he wants to keep his job, then fine, fuck him."

Jan didn't know how to respond to that and Nicole and Crystal didn't make a move to help her.

It didn't matter to Sami though. She surged forward like a bulldozer, "His job should not be more important to him than I am. His job is disgusting and wrong. I refuse to be with someone who works there. Anyone who can strip there and even consider having a relationship with a woman is despicable. And any woman willing to try and have a long-lasting, dedicated relationship with a stripper has no dignity or values. I don't want to lose either of those things, so until Lucas quits his job, I can't take anymore chances."

Without speaking, Jan rose from the couch and walked out of Sami's apartment. Nicole and Crystal turned to face Sami distastefully after they had finished watching Jan leave.

"Good one," Nicole shook her head, "Insulting Jan when she was trying to help you was a really smart thing to do, now wasn't it?"

"I didn't insult her."

"Yes, you did." Nicole shot back, "If you think women who date strippers are horrible, then it's obvious you have a pretty low opinion of Jan. She's in love with two of the strippers at Unzipped."

"She should have known I wasn't talking about her. I wasn't even thinking about her when I said it."

"You still said it and you're wrong," Nicole responded angrily, "Even if Jan's values are as twisted as yours and mine, they're still there. You owe both her and Lucas an apology."

"I don't owe Lucas anything." Sami said.

"I'm not arguing with you about this," Nicole's eyes narrowed, "Maybe you don't owe Lucas an apology for wanting him to quit his job, but you do owe him one for calling him a slut. We'll work out the rest after you finish saying sorry to Lucas and Jan."

"I don't have to do anything you tell me to do." Sami snapped haughtily.

"Look, I know we haven't always gotten along very well," Sami snorted at the understatement, "Then you kept sitting with us at the club and it really wasn't that bad. You were actually pretty easy to be around, surprisingly enough. Since we kind of became friends, I want you to make up with Lucas. I don't want you to keep sulking inside this apartment and watching television that isn't even porn, because that's a depressing way to live your life. Come back to the club with us. Talk to Lucas. Maybe you'll even find a way to convince him to quit tonight."

"Good luck trying," Crystal spoke for the first time since entering Sami's apartment, "See, this is why I'm with Nicole. Women understand each other better and know what other women need. It's easier not to fight with women."

"That's true on most occasions," Nicole agreed, "But I'm a woman and I still don't understand Sami."

Crystal's face fell, "Does this mean we can't give her pity sex?"

Sami squirmed under Crystal and Nicole's calculating stares, "I don't think we have to understand her to give her pity sex." Nicole decided.

"I just wouldn't accept it." Sami mumbled, scooting away from Nicole and Crystal.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot you were straight for a minute there," Nicole sighed, "You and Lucas really do need to wake up and smell the bisexuality, Sami."

"Maybe some other time," Sami stood up. Very uncomfortable with the topic at hand, Sami searched desperately for a distraction, "So, are we going to the club or not?"

The words flew from Sami's mouth before she had a chance to stop herself. As soon as she said them, she froze. She couldn't actually go to the club. She couldn't be in the same room with Lucas yet. She couldn't talk to him again after what had happened that morning. It was too soon; she needed time to pull herself together, to let go of more of the pain still lodged in her stomach. She needed at least a week. Actually, a month sounded even better.

Nicole and Crystal had also stood up and were leading Sami out of her apartment. Sami's feet moved numbly while her mind screamed at her to stop. She tried to force her protests out of her mouth but they stayed trapped in her chest. She couldn't do anything but move forward as Nicole and Crystal walked with her towards the door to her apartment.


	35. Nocturnal

Chapter Thirty-Five

* * *

It hadn't been three days since Sami's last visit to Unzipped but somehow the club felt entirely different that night. The staged seemed higher, the lighting seemed brighter and harsher, the air conditioning seemed stronger, the music seemed louder and the dance floor seemed busier. With the music smashing against her eardrums and goose bumps prickling her arms, there was nothing she wanted more than to turn and fly out the door she had come in through. Unfortunately, Nicole and Crystal's presences kept her walking onward. They walked next to her on either side, encouraging and protective. It was only when Sami reached the familiar door leading backstage that those feelings of encouragement and protectiveness failed to be enough to move Sami forward.

She came to a halt in front of the door and resisted Nicole's attempts to push her ahead, "I'm not going in there. I don't want to see him."

"What is wrong with you? You're _never_ afraid to tell people how you feel about them. I know from experience." Nicole gave Sami another push in the direction of the door, "You can handle Lucas. Now, get in there."

Sami clutched Nicole's arm to make her stop pushing, "The fight happened this morning. This morning, Nicole, and it was really bad. You want me to apologize to Jan? Whatever, I'll do that without any problems. All I want is to not have to even _look_ at Lucas until our fight is further into the past."

Nicole racked her brains for motivating words. She wondered what Jan would say to Sami in this situation. Nicole thought for about a minute. Inspired, she patted Sami's hand reassuringly.

"Big fights happen," Nicole reasoned, "I mean, Phillip and Shawn fought over Belle for forever, and look at them now!"

Sami dug her nails into Nicole's arm in warning, "I already told Jan not to make that comparison. You can't do it either."

"You still aren't getting what I'm trying to tell you." Nicole ripped her arm away, exasperated, "It doesn't matter how huge the fight was. The sooner you make up, the better."

Instead of replying, Sami tried to make sense of the conflicting thoughts railroading through her mind. It was crazy to try and talk to Lucas when her insults from earlier that morning could still resound clearly in her head, which meant they had to be resounding in Lucas' head with even more clarity. She knew she had a habit of digging herself into deep holes when she confronted people without preparation, and she was not prepared to face Lucas.

She also knew Nicole and Crystal had no intentions of leaving her alone until she did what they wanted her to do. Not to mention that seeing Lucas was something Sami wouldn't be able to put off for long, not when they lived across the hall from each other. Maybe it would be easiest to get the worst over with right away. It was also a consolation to know that Lucas would be even more unprepared for this encounter than she would be.

Hoping they wouldn't notice how belated her reply was, Sami plastered a smile onto her face, "All right, you convinced me. I will go in there alone," she looked at Nicole and Crystal pointedly, "And I will apologize to Lucas. Then I'll find Jan and apologize to her after."

"Good," Nicole replied, "So, what are you waiting for? Go!"

Pushing the door open, Sami felt a heavy, sinking feeling wash over her as her eyes flickered around the room in search of Lucas. She saw Shawn, then Rex, then Patrick, then finally spotted her target. Lucas didn't see her; his back was to her while he talked to the other men. It would be easy to turn back around and run from Lucas and the club. It was so tempting that Sami could feel the muscles in her legs tensing.

Her hesitation lost her valuable time, so much time that she had lost the chance to choose between leaving without being seen and confronting Lucas. Rex had already spotted her and was nudging Lucas, mouthing something into Lucas' right ear. She watched Lucas' back go rigid and for what felt like at least half an hour, he was as motionless as she was. Then he turned around slowly, their eyes meeting. She registered the shock and anger in his expression instantaneously, but it took her a few more seconds afterwards to determine what else was wrapped up in that dark-eyed gaze. The sense of hidden hope she sensed in the look he gave her supplied her with the confidence that made her walk forward, made her walk towards him.

Shawn, Rex and Patrick must have known something about the state Lucas and Sami's relationship was currently in, because when Sami began walking over, they all backed away warily. Disregarding the three of them, Sami summoned up the rest of her courage and stepped in front of Lucas. He was rubbing the back of his neck, his head lowered so that his face was to the floor. Her thoughts tripped over each other, and when she opened her mouth to speak, an almost inaudible squeak came out. Even though she managed to recover quickly afterwards, her words still came out muttered and scared. She had grown used to being scared of her feelings for Lucas, but this feeling, this utter fear of Lucas' response to what she going to say, was completely new.

"Hi, Lucas," she forced out. She wished he would look at her again, but he stubbornly kept his face averted from hers.

"Why are you here?" he asked without returning the greeting. He made the question more inquisitive than intentionally rude, yet Sami's confidence began to dissipate anyway.

"I came here to tell you-" Sami fought back a shiver caused by the continuous stream of air conditioning hitting her skin, "I'm apologizing for what happened this morning." She finished stiffly, inwardly cringing at the lack of emotion in her voice.

She knew right away that Lucas wasn't taking her seriously. "Is that so?" He crossed his arms, keeping his posture closed off and his face stony.

"Yes!" Sami exclaimed, "I'm sorry, all right? I didn't mean what I said, and I shouldn't have said it in the first place. The last part, at least," she couldn't resist adding.

Lucas' arms fell to his sides and he finally raised his head to look at Sami. He could tell as soon as his eyes met her impossibly blue ones that her apology was heartfelt. There was too much genuine remorse in her voice and the pleading, sincere expression on her face was too realistic to be fake.

"We were both mad," Lucas shrugged, dismissive and understanding all at once, "It's okay. Thank you for coming over here to talk to me."

Sami gave a slight nod, then waited to see if Lucas would say anything else. A part of her still hoped now that Lucas had accepted her apology, he would reconsider his decision to continue working at the club. She had wanted to believe that the hours they had spent apart would convince Lucas that he didn't want to work at Unzipped anymore, but judging from the way Lucas stood before her awkwardly without talking, Sami could tell that wasn't the case.

Before she could say anything else, an angry voice carried across to their side of the dressing room.

"Well, looks who's here," Phillip had re-entered the room after doing a dance on stage and was now walking towards Lucas and Sami, "Is she back to insult you some more, Lucas? What's the matter, didn't get your fill already, Sami? Between Jan and Lucas, how could you _not_ be finished treating people badly?"

Sami shot a stunned glare at Lucas, "You didn't waste any time telling Phillip all of our problems, did you? Do you tell him everything about us, Lucas?"

"No!" Lucas quickly returned, "Just that." Lucas faced Phillip, "It's okay, bro. Things are fine between me and Sami now."

Liar, Sami thought viciously, biting her lip to stop herself from saying something that would restart their entire fighting cycle from that morning. She didn't know how Lucas could say that they were 'fine' so easily when it was obvious that they were anything but fine. She couldn't to understand why it was so important to Lucas that he kept his job and Lucas didn't understand her feelings either.

She stared hard at Lucas, wanting him to feel the same fear of losing her that she felt over the prospect of losing him. She knew if Lucas went on working at the club, she wouldn't be in the audience. They would see each other less and less, and that terrified her. Not knowing what was going on at the club would be just as painful as seeing Lucas with another woman would be. At least if Lucas was with another woman, Sami would know where she stood with him. If she left the club without getting Lucas to quit tonight, then she might never know where she stood with him again.

Phillip sent Sami one last scowl before walking off in Shawn's direction, allowing Lucas and Sami to lapse into the same intimidating quiet. Frustration bubbled up in the pit of Sami's stomach like molten lava. There was nothing else she could do if Lucas couldn't find anything to say. Before everything was going to be 'fine' again, they had a lot to talk about and, this intrusive club was the last place Sami do that in.

"I think I should go," Sami said, abruptly shattering the silence. She didn't wait for his reaction before swinging around to leave, but he grabbed her hand, forcing her to turn back to him.

"Sami, don't leave," his eyes bore into hers helplessly, "Please?"

His hand encompassed, his thumb brushing against her knuckles tenderly. Sami wanted to shy away from his grasp, but he was standing too close to her and she couldn't move.

"You have to do your job." Sami whispered bitterly, her body language begging, _Quit your job_.

"I want to talk to you," his body language sounding back, _I can't_.

"Not here," she scanned the dressing room with distaste, even hatred, then pulled her hand from Lucas' and clenched it into a tight fist, "I'll see you later." she finished, even though later wasn't a very promising thing in their situation.

She left the dressing room, only to find Nicole and Crystal waiting outside for her with Jan. Dammit.

"Jan," Sami took a deep breath, "I'm sorry if you thought I was deliberately trying to hurt you with what I said at my apartment. I wasn't even thinking and I certainly didn't think to assume it might upset you, but I'm sorry."

Jan gave her a small, yet authentic smile, "Don't worry about it." She let it go easily, changing the subject, "Are you and Lucas okay now, too?"

Sami shook her head, "After I apologized he didn't seem angry anymore, but I don't think we're ever going to be okay as long as he works in this shit palace."

"Poor Sami," Jan gave her a hug, "We'll think of something."

"Don't bother trying that physical crap on her, Jan." Nicole scoffed, "She already turned down the pity sex offer Crystal and I made."

Jan's eyes widened and she gaped at Sami incredulously, "Are you _crazy_? Do you have any idea how _good _they are?"

"If you like them so much, then you can take my turn for me," Sami suggested sarcastically, "Look, I'm sure you three want to get back to watching the strippers, so I'll let you get back to that."

"What do you mean? Aren't you watching with us?" Jan asked.

"Not anymore," Sami unceremoniously kicked the wall to make a point, "I hate this place."

"But it's like our tradition to watch them together," Jan objected, "I'll be sad if we don't do it anymore, because then we'll never see you."

"I doubt it will be that bad. We'll see each other sometimes." Sami replied.

"But not as much, especially now that I've turned nocturnal," Jan told them, "I sleep late, come to Unzipped for a couple hours, then stay up for a _looooong_ time every night. I'm not doing that tonight though. I have something big planned for me, Phillip and Shawn tomorrow, so we're going to sleep early."

The devilish smile brightening Jan's face warned Sami not to ask just what she had planned for the next day, "Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll have a great time. Thanks for trying to help me and Lucas tonight. It was a really nice thing to do."

"And you made progress, right?" Jan checked hopefully.

"A little bit, I think," her voice was drenched with uncertainty that made the hopeful look on Jan's face die, "I'm just... tired. I'll talk to you some other time."

"Bye," Nicole, Crystal and Jan murmured, watching Sami push her way out of the crowds and walk over to the door leading outside. Disappointed but not despondent, Jan headed for her seat.

"Come on," she called over her shoulder to Nicole and Crystal, "We have some serious brainstorming to do."


	36. The Blue Note

Chapter Thirty-Six

* * *

At the Blue Note, Kate sat in the seat across from Lucas, taking in his slumped, listless form with a calculating stare. She had rushed over to Lucas' apartment earlier that night after Mimi had told her that Lucas and Sami had ended their twisted, unhealthy relationship. She had caught Lucas preparing to leave for work at Unzipped. It still horrified Kate to know that her children worked at the sleazy male strip bar, and had fortunately managed to coerce Lucas into skipping his shift to have dinner with her.

Surprisingly, Kate hadn't had to try very hard to push Lucas into ditching work. He had simply given in without more than a single, somewhat feeble protest, then hadn't even bothered to call Bonnie to tell her he wouldn't be coming to work that night. _I can only hope he's grown weary of engaging in such a degrading activity_, Kate thought to herself, pleased to see that Lucas ridden himself of one bad part of his life and was slowly losing interest in another. With Sami already out of the picture, Lucas giving up his stripping job would mean Kate had succeeded in making sure at least one of her sons was on the right track.

Now she just had to get to work separating Phillip from Jan and Shawn, then Rex from Patrick. Kate had already convinced Belle that Phillip was the right man for her, so Mimi and Belle were both spying on Jan at Unzipped tonight in hopes of finding something to use to break up the disgusting threesome.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Kate pried, directing her attention at her moping son, "You've barely said a word since we got here."

Lucas leaned back in his chair, "Sorry, mom. I'm probably not the best company for anyone right now."

"You do seem very unhappy," Kate noted, preparing to bring up the subject of Sami, "And I've heard from a very good source that you and Sami have ended your little fling. Does that have anything to do with it?"

"It wasn't a fling." Lucas snapped, not answering the question.

"Really?" Kate replied disbelievingly, "Because between all the spankings, strip club visits and God knows what else, that's certainly what I'd call it. It was nothing more than a cheap, sexual fling. You did the right thing by stopping the madness."

Lucas' scathing glare could have melted glass, "I didn't end anything. I had my way, I would still be with Sami. I know you hate hearing this, but I love her."

"And I know you're going to hate hearing this, but it's clear to me that she doesn't love you." Kate saw Lucas' shoulders tighten and spoke again, "I'm sure once you fully get over that little monster you'll be happy again."

"Let's just drop it." Lucas speared his dinner with his fork fiercely.

"Fine," Kate took a dainty sip of her water before switching to another topic, "So, have Rex and Phillip gotten over their disturbing infatuations yet?"

"I don't think so. Why?"

Kate's nostrils flared with annoyance, "I was just curious, but if they're still being brainwashed by Shawn, Patrick and Jan, I'll have to work harder to help them."

"Help them?" Lucas repeated blankly, "And by help you mean you're going to try and break them all up?"

"Exactly. I'm glad we're on the same page." Kate answered with an overly bright smile.

"Actually, we're really not. You can't do that to Rex and Phillip when they're already happy being with the people they're with right now." Lucas defended his brothers.

"But I can't sit back and watch my sons ruin their lives." Kate countered arrogantly, "I gave birth to my children, and I know what's best for them."

"You are unbelievable." Lucas might have been in a bad mood before being approached by his mother, but his spirits had definitely taken a nosedive after this conversation. "Why do you hate Shawn and Patrick so much? Is it because they're guys?"

Kate let out a huff, unable to object to Lucas' suggestion.

"See? That is so unfair. You have to stop condemning Shawn and Patrick just because they like both men and women. There's nothing wrong with Jan either. You should just let all of them figure things out on their own."

"I don't think you should be so supportive of this situation." Kate scolded him, "At least you're straight. You should be able to realize how indecent what your brothers are doing is."

Maybe it was the way Kate had belittled his relationship with Sami that made Lucas want to get a rise out of her, or maybe it had been the things she had said about Phillip and Rex. Whatever the reason, Lucas was unskillful at resisting the opportunity to upset his mother.

"To tell you the truth, I've decided not to be straight anymore." Lucas lied, "Phillip and Rex told me sex with guys is really hot, so I'm going to try it. Now all I need to do is find a single guy that isn't straight." Lucas looked past his table and over at the bar, "And looks who's here. What a coincidence. I'm going to go talk to him right now. I can't wait to see how he'll respond to my proposition."

"Lucas, no!" Kate cried out in anguish, standing up to follow him. She hadn't taken two steps before her cell phone rang shrilly from inside her purse. Agitated, Kate ripped the phone from her purse and turned it on.

"Hello?" Kate answered the phone, her tone clipped and abrupt.

"Kate, it's Belle," the familiar, saccharine voice made Kate momentarily forget about Lucas' intentions, "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, it's fine, sweetie," Kate assured the younger woman quickly, turning her back to the bar, "How is everything going at the club? Have you and Mimi found a way to get Phillip away from Jan and Shawn?"

"Not yet. Jan wasn't even talking about Shawn or Phillip at all, so it was totally impossible to figure out what she's up to," Belle whined, "All she was doing was talking to Nicole and Crystal about Sami and Lucas."

"She was?" Kate raised an eyebrow, "What exactly did she say?"

"Well, Mimi told me I shouldn't snitch about this because she said it wasn't any of our business, but I decided that if I'm not happy, then my sister shouldn't get to be either. So, I'm going to tell you. Jan was telling Nicole and Crystal she has this fool-proof plan for getting Lucas and Sami back together. They're going to get Bonnie in on it too. They mentioned something about going to talk to Bonnie after the club closes tonight." Belle concluded.

Pursing her lips together angrily, Kate strained to keep her voice light, "Then I guess I'll just have to make it to the club before closing to see what they have up their sleeves."

"Well, Mimi and I are going to leave the club now. I'm bored of spying on Jan. I mean, Phillip and Shawn are supposed to be working to win me over, not the other way around. This is so against my nature."

"I understand, Belle. Don't worry, once Phillip has a change of heart, he'll be endlessly faithful." Kate promised. She said good-bye to Belle, then looked over at the bar. Brady was already leaning over the counter, talking to Lucas. She took a single step in their direction, then paused, contemplating what was more important: dragging Lucas away from Brady or keeping Lucas away from Sami.

In the end, Kate decided Sami was more of a long-term threat than Brady, which meant she had to make sure she got to the club on time. Looking in the direction of the bar one last time, Kate turned and walked out of the Blue Note.

Brady noticed Kate's exit and pointed it out to Lucas, "Your mom just walked out of here."

Lucas shrugged, "I don't mind. It's kind of convenient. I thought I was going to have to pretend to hit on you if she came over here but now I don't have to worry about it."

"Hit on me?" Brady's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Yeah. My mom's going all homophobic because Rex and Phillip are with guys, so I told her I was going to go have sex with a guy too. I decided to make a point in defense of my brothers."

Brady fiddled with a glass behind the bar, "Your mom should be used to it by now. From what I've heard, anything can happen at that club."

Lucas chuckled, "That's pretty accurate. Hey, why haven't you ever been to Unzipped? Don't Nicole and Crystal invite you?"

"They do, but I told them I wasn't interested. I was dating Chloe and still claiming to be one hundred percent straight at that time. Then after everyone else admitted they were bi and Nicole admitted it for me, I decided to can the act altogether."

"What do you mean was?" Lucas asked, "Are you telling me that you're not with Chloe anymore?"

Brady shook his head, "I was sick of the distance and I stopped feeling attracted to her a long time ago. I couldn't keep trying to date someone I didn't want."

"Then why don't you come to the club now?"

Brady stared at the polished wood of the bar's counter, "I don't know. Nicole and Crystal are always together and they're always going to the club. I guess now that Nicole's with Crystal she doesn't need me."

"Don't think of it that way," Lucas smirked, "Nicole and Crystal don't seem like the exclusive type. Why don't you try and get together with them. I highly doubt that they would turn down the chance to have a threesome with you, or any other somewhat attractive guy for that matter."

"You have a point," Brady looked more than a little excited about the prospect of being with both women at once, "I'll talk to them and see what happens. Thanks, Lucas."

"No problem." Lucas replied, wishing his own problems with Sami could be resolved just as easily.


	37. The Plan

Chapter Thirty-Seven

* * *

"Now, what can I do for you ladies?" Bonnie inquired as she plunked herself down in her office's desk chair. The only two chairs situated in front of the desk were immediately occupied by Jan and Crystal, leaving Nicole standing.

Bonnie's office was set up in the very back of the club for a good reason. The small room was very plain compared to the club's flashy dance floor and bar, and the room would have looked virtually unused if it hadn't been for the crumpled wads of paper littering the desk's broad mahogany surface. Paper fanned out across the entire spread of the desk top while some of the balls of paper had already fallen onto the beige carpet. Nicole briefly wondered how Bonnie managed the club's fiances with such a disorganized system, then focused her attention on what Jan was saying.

"Look, this might sound ridiculous at first," Jan began, "But we have very good reasons for wanting to have this done."

"Don't beat around the bush then." Bonnie leaned over the desk eagerly, "What's this about?"

Jan took a deep breath, "We want you to fire Lucas."

Bonnie's arms dropped and smacked against the desk, "You've got to be joking! I can't fire the most well-endowed stripper working at this joint. I'm sorry, babe, but it ain't gonna happen."

"Just let us explain," Jan pleaded. "Lucas' job here is only causing problems, and those problems aren't going to be solved unless Lucas stops working here."

"What's the problem with him working here?" Bonnie scowled, "And if it's causing so many problems, why doesn't Lucas quit?"

"I don't know all the details, but Lucas thinks Sami only wants him to quit because she doesn't trust him. Now he's too stubborn to quit because he thinks that will be reinforcing her lack of faith in him or something. I know from what Sami's told me that he got really mad at her for asking him to quit. That's why you have to fire him or he'll never get back together with Sami." Jan explained.

"And if I fire Lucas, then I'm going to lose a damn fine piece of ass and my club will be ruined!" Bonnie's hands flew in the air dramatically.

"You still have Shawn and Phillip," Jan pointed out, pouting, "What's wrong with them?"

"Absolutely nothing," Bonnie answered hastily, "I just want to know why Lucas won't get Sami back unless he isn't working here."

"Sami won't date a stripper, and Lucas won't quit. Since we're Sami's friends, I think it's up to us to help them." Jan waited a moment, then gave Bonnie a hopeful smile, "Are you going to fire him now?"

Bonnie shook her head, "I'm sorry. I would love to help but I can't go around firing my employees every time someone asks me to. That wouldn't be ethical."

"Come on, Bonnie," Crystal jumped in helpfully, "Who needs ethics anyways? They just get in the way."

"You're right about that," Bonnie chuckled for a moment, but she cut her laughter off immediately, "I still think I should have at least one or two though..."

"We're not talking about your God damn ethics," Jan scooted her chair forward, attempting to look menacing, "You really shouldn't overlook our request so easily, Mrs. Lockhart. We are trying to be polite, but you're going to do this for us, one way or another."

"Ooh, I'm scared." Bonnie puffed her chest forward in challenge, "I've dealt with a lot more intimidating than you, Spears."

"It's not about who's more intimidating," Nicole spoke up with a sigh, "Listen, you like money, don't you?"

"What kind of question is that?" Bonnie demanded, "Who _doesn't_ like money?"

"Good," Nicole reached into her purse and fixed an expectant stare on Bonnie, "How much do you want us to pay you for firing Lucas?"

Bonnie looked mildly intrigued by now, and tapped a finger against her cheek lightly, "How much are you willing to offer?"

"I'll give you a hundred bucks." Nicole promised, preparing to take out a bill.

Bonnie snorted, "Doll, you're going to have to do better than that."

"A thousand." Nicole renegotiated, hoping Bonnie would be satisfied.

"A thousand would be nice coming from some people." Bonnie remarked, "But not from you. I know how much dough you're rolling in. When your old husband kicked the bucket, you inherited a fortune. Don't make a fool out of me."

Disgusted with Bonnie's attitude, Nicole tried again, "Two grand."

"Nope."

"Four?" when Bonnie shook her head again, Nicole growled with frustration, "Lucas isn't even worth _one_ thousand, let alone four. I'm giving you a very good deal here. Show me some gratitude!"

"I don't think so," Bonnie shot back, "It isn't really about how much Lucas is worth anymore. What it's about it when it's going to actually hurt that pretty little wallet of yours. I bet a hundred grand would sting some. How's that sound?"

"It sounds like you're out of your freaking mind!" Nicole exclaimed furiously, "I refuse to pay you that much money."

"Once a stingy gold-digger, always a stingy gold-digger," Bonnie mumbled, "Then I guess Lucas is going to have a long, miserable career here at the club."

"Please, Mrs. Lockhart, this is important to us," Jan begged, sneaking a quick glance over at Nicole, "What about fifty thousand?"

Nicole sputtered angrily, but didn't argue.

"I guess that'll do." Bonnie spoke again after a few moments, "You know, Lucas hasn't been the happiness go-go boy in the world lately. He skipped work tonight without calling in sick and he's been in a bad mood for the past few shifts he's worked. I really should fire him. An unhappy stripper will do nothing but bring the atmosphere of the club down. Lucas isn't working tomorrow night, but he is working the night after that. I'll toss him out then."

"Good," Jan gave Bonnie a tiny smile, "Thank you."

"Don't thank her, we're paying her money." Nicole grumbled, already writing out a check, "And you better not tell anyone that the three of us bribed you into doing this. Lucas can't ever know we had anything to do with it."

"I can do that. Gee, I never thought I'd fire someone as sexy as Lucas Roberts, but this money will make it well worth my time." Bonnie let out a little squeal when she snatched the slip of paper out of Nicole's hand.

Nicole bit her lip to keep from snatching the paper back out of Bonnie's grasp and shredding it into tiny pieces. If Lucas and Sami didn't get back together after this, then she was going to sue Bonnie's ass off. Or do something equally evil.

Jan seemed to sense Nicole's impending tantrum over her lost money, so Jan quickly took hold of Nicole's arm, "We need to get going now." Jan told Bonnie, "Thanks for your time."

"Anytime, anytime," Bonnie responded cheerfully, "Especially if you always reward me so wonderfully. Fifty thousands bucks... Jesus."

Nicole was fuming by the time she, Jan and Crystal left the office, "I cannot believe I had to give that bitch my money like that."

"It's not that big of a deal," Jan tried to calm Nicole, "You have tons of money, you're not going to miss fifty K."

"Oh, yes, I will!" Nicole swore emphatically, "But soon it won't matter. I'm going to run Bonnie out of this club and take over it myself."

"Really?" Crystal gaped at Nicole.

"Yes," Nicole grinned wickedly, "It shouldn't be too hard. I have experience running businesses. From the looks of things after being in Bonnie's office, that woman doesn't have a clue how to make a decent profit from this club. This whole building and all the strippers in it will soon be mine."

"You'll let me and Jan help you run the club though, right?" Crystal checked.

"Absolutely," Nicole suddenly noticed the gloomy look on Jan's face and frowned, "What's wrong, Jan? You should be happy we finally got Bonnie to agree to fire Lucas."

"I should," Jan agreed, her voice quavering, "But I'm really going to miss Lucas. I always liked watching him strip and after he gets fired I'll never get to see him pole-dancing in a g-string again!"

"Shh, it's okay, Jan," Nicole patted the younger woman's shoulder condescendingly, "There's plenty of other strippers, including the two you are dating. They'll help you through this difficult time."

"I hope so," Jan's voice wasn't as unstable as it had been moments before, "And hey, at least Lucas and Sami will be happy. So, on the night Lucas get fired, right after Bonnie lets him go, we're going to call Sami and tell her that Lucas is no longer working at Unzipped. We won't tell her he quit, but we won't tell her he was fired either. She'll reach her own conclusions. Then we'll tell her she should wait for Lucas in his apartment, then give him a friendly welcome home." Jan beamed, "And I do mean 'friendly'. I just know they'll get back together after this."

From a safe distance, but still close enough to overhear their conversation, Kate inwardly scoffed at Jan's last comment. _Sorry, you little tramp, but you've discounted me far too quickly. Lucas isn't going to get back together with Sami, and I know exactly how I'm going to counteract your plan._


	38. Lucas Gets Fired

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Two nights later, Bonnie dropped herself into her office chair again, only this time she was accompanied by Lucas instead of Jan, Nicole and Crystal. Bonnie wrinkled her nose distastefully as she surveyed the boring surroundings of her office. She was spending way too much time in this room lately. Ever since she had opened the club, spending time in her office was something she had always avoided unless it was absolutely necessary. She hoped that after tonight, it would be a while before she had to do anymore unpleasant business. 

While Lucas seated himself, Bonnie prepared to do some _very_ unpleasant business: firing one of the sexiest strippers that had ever set foot on the stage of Unzipped. _Think of the money, Bonnie, think of the money_, she repeated in her head over and over to make the task at hand more bearable. 

"Lucas," Bonnie began, trying to sound professional, "I've noticed a lot of changes in your work habits lately. A lot of negative changes," she added pointedly. 

"Yeah, sorry about that," Lucas said offhandedly, not realizing what Bonnie was leading up to, "I've had other things on my mind." 

"I can tell," Bonnie responded wryly, "But until you get those other things resolved, I have to do something about you. You've been in a horrible mood on all of your most recent shifts, and you're playing hooky without even calling in sick. I have no choice. I have to fire you." 

Lucas' casual, uncaring manner was gone as soon as the words had left Bonnie's mouth. He shot straight up in the air and looked at Bonnie with his mouth hanging open slightly in surprise. Immediately, he began to try and figure out some way to get out of what looked like a hopeless situation. Bonnie couldn't fire him. He had already come to the conclusion that his job here was the only thing left to help him determine whether or not Sami believed in his love for her. 

He had been planning to quit his job as soon as Sami came to her senses and decided that she trusted him no matter where he worked. He had hoped it would only be a matter of time before Sami realized he needed her to trust him in order for their relationship to work. If he left his job now and got back together with Sami, there would be no way of knowing if Sami trusted him, or if Sami had only gotten back together with him because he wasn't working at Unzipped anymore. 

"I really don't think you should do this," Lucas began carefully, "I apologize about missing work the other night. It won't happen again. I know I should have called, but I just didn't want to." 

"Exactly," Bonnie shook her head, "You've seemed to have lost all your enthusiasm and I can't work with that. Your unhappiness and lack of energy is going to bring all the other strippers down. If you don't look like you're into it, then you're going to make all the rest of the strippers look bad too." 

"I can get into it again," Lucas tried to bargain with her, "I'll be totally enthusiastic and energetic again. I'll be a model stripper for everyone." 

His offer was very tempting, and Bonnie had to remind herself of the payment she had received from Nicole to carry out this task. She had to steel herself against his words and get this over with. The money waiting at home for her would be comfort enough. 

"I already did," Bonnie shrugged her shoulders and gave Lucas a little wave, "See you around, hun." 

"Bonnie, just give me another chance. This is really stupid." Seeing that Bonnie couldn't be reasoned with, Lucas leaned back in the chair unhappily. The Bonnie he knew was a lot more malleable when it came to the young, attractive strippers at the club. He wondered why she was so adamant about him not working at the club anymore. As a last-chance attempt to keep his job, he chose to hit the older woman in her weakest spot. 

"Bonnie, you think I'm good at stripping, don't you?" Once Bonnie nodded, Lucas continued, "If you let me keep my job, I'll be an even better stripper than I was before. I'll do anything, I promise." Lucas gave Bonnie the most suggestive, alluring smile he could manage under such tense conditions. 

Looking ready to succumb to Lucas' request, Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and muttered something to herself. When she opened her eyes again, the resolve that had returned to her face made Lucas' heart sink. 

"Sorry, no can do," Bonnie replied, her tone light and firm at the same time, "And I have several other things to take care of, so maybe we should leave my office now." 

Knowing there was no other way to convince Bonnie to let him keep his job, Lucas stood up and walked out of the office a few steps in front of Bonnie. Now that he knew he wasn't going to get his job back from Bonnie, he wanted to leave the club as soon as possible. He retrieved his clothes, but was stopped by Phillip and Jan before he could leave the dressing room. 

"Where are you going?" Phillip asked with a frown, "I thought you were working tonight." 

"I was," Lucas tried not to let them see how upset he was, "Until Bonnie fired me." 

"She did what?" Jan's eyes were round and disbelieving, "Why would she fire you?" 

"She said I had a bad attitude and was making everybody look bad," Lucas said. "It doesn't really matter, I just want to get out of here." 

After he said good-bye to her and Phillip, Jan watched him leave. She hadn't known what reaction to expect from Lucas once he had found out he was fired, but she hadn't expected him to look so defeated. He didn't really have a reason to be defeated. He hadn't been happy with his job after losing Sami, so getting fired shouldn't have mattered to him. She, Nicole and Crystal _had_ done the right thing by getting him fired, hadn't they? 

Trying to brush away her insecurities, Jan left Philip to go find Nicole and Crystal so they could help her carry out part two of their plan. 

"Get up, you two," she ordered Nicole and Crystal once she had reached their seats, "Lucas just left, which means we have a phone call to make." 

Nicole and Crystal followed Jan to the phone booth outside the club. Jan did a quick scan of the parking lot to make sure Lucas had already driven away, then dialed Sami's number. 

"Hello?" Sami picked up on the fourth ring. 

"Sami, it's Jan. I have some really good news for you." 

"Good news?" Sami's voice was laced with doubt, "Well, if you really think so, go ahead and tell me what it is." 

"Okay," Jan smiled at Nicole and Crystal before giving Sami the news, "Lucas just left the club. I asked Bonnie why he left, and she told me that he is no longer working at the club. Isn't that great?" 

Sami was stunned into silence for a few seconds, but she finally replied, "What? You mean he really just... stopped working there?" 

"That's what happened," Jan clarified, "See, he really does love you. He knew you wouldn't be with him unless he left Unzipped and it only took him a matter of days to end his career there for good." 

"I just can't believe he really quit," Jan gave Nicole and Crystal another broad smile to let them know Sami was reacting according to plan, "I didn't think he would do that for me so soon." 

"Sami, he loves you," Jan reminded her, "And you love him." 

"I do," Sami agreed dreamily. 

"Then you know what you should do?" Jan didn't wait for Sami to answer, "You need to wait for him in his apartment. When he gets back, you should show him how much his quitting his job means to you, how much he means to you." 

"You're right, Jan," Sami sounded even farther away now, and Jan could tell she was already visualizing her reunion with Lucas, "Thanks for calling." 

"Anytime," Jan responded cheerfully, "Just hurry up and get over there. He'll be back at his apartment any minute." 

A few moments later, Jan set down the phone and turned around to Crystal and Nicole, "I think we did it. You should have heard how happy Sami sounded. I don't think there's any way they could not get back together after everything we did." 

"I hope so," Nicole said, "Because now that we got that over with, I can go back to figuring out how to take this club away from Bonnie Lockhart for good." 

Sami had already let herself into Lucas' apartment and was impatiently awaiting his return. Her hands shook with anticipation and she had to keep reminding herself to breathe. It was hard to believe that after the summer they had just had, things might actually work out tonight. Her heart palpitated fanatically in her chest as she paced back and forth in front of Lucas' couch, staring hard at the door, willing it to open. 

A few more painfully long minutes went by until the doorknob twisted with a faint clicking sound. Lucas walked through the door with his head lowered, so he didn't notice Sami until he had taken a few steps into the apartment. When he did see her, he stopped abruptly and shot her a puzzled look. 

"Sami," he said her name awkwardly, not seeming to know how to respond to her presence, "What are you- what are you doing here? Is everything okay?" 

"Everything is perfect," Sami knew she had to be almost glowing by now, and left her position near the couch to walk over to Lucas, "I heard about what happened tonight. I'm really glad you made the decision you did." 

"Decision?" Lucas didn't look any less confused. 

"It's okay, Lucas. I already know that you quit your job." Unable to stop herself, Sami wound her arms around his neck, "Thank you." 

"But, Sami, I didn't-" Lucas didn't have a chance to finish his sentence. Sami's mouth collided with his hungrily, and he was powerless to do anything but return her kiss. He could feel how much she had missed him in the way she alternated between suckling his upper and lower lip and in the way her fingers toyed with the short hair at the nape of his neck. He couldn't stop himself from pressing his hands into her back, drawing her closer and returning her kiss with the same amount of passion she was giving him. Even his worry over never knowing whether or not Sami trusted him wasn't enough to make him end the desirable contact between the two of them. 

"Stop it! Stop kissing her, Lucas! You don't know what she's done!" Kate burst through the door of Lucas' apartment, prepared to shatter everything Jan, Nicole and Crystal had worked for. 

Lucas pulled his mouth off of Sami's but his arms remained locked around Sami's waist, "Mom? What are you doing here?" 

Kate had known how the night was going to turn out, and had been waiting for Lucas to return to his apartment after being fired, but she certainly wasn't going to tell Lucas that. With a false story already fabricated, Kate explained, "I heard about you getting fired from Philip. I rushed to the club right away and demanded an explanation from Bonnie. It turns out that Sami here, along with those other three sluts, _bribed_ Bonnie until she agreed to fire you." 

Lucas' arms fell to his sides and he took a step away from Sami, "That can't be true." he muttered, more to himself than Sami or Kate. 

"It is," Kate's eyes burned with fury as she zeroed in on a very bewildered Sami, "Sami didn't want you to work at the club. She doesn't trust you, Lucas, she even said so to Bonnie. You can't be with her when she tried to manipulate you like that!" 

Sami was looking at Lucas now, "You were fired?" she asked in a small voice. 

"Don't play innocent, Sami." Kate's face twisted into a scowl, "You know he was fired, you arranged the whole thing!" Kate switched her attention to Lucas, "Honey, I hate being the one to break this news to you, but it's true. Bonnie won't tell you the truth, because Sami, Nicole and those other two paid her enough to keep her mouth shut. This is all Sami's doing. I'm just lucky I was able to get the truth from Bonnie so I could stop you from making the huge mistake of getting back together with this bitch." 

Lucas was staring at Sami in horror, "I can't believe you would do this to me. Didn't I tell you I wanted you to trust me? Now I'll never know if you trust me or not." 

"Lucas, she is lying!" Sami cried, "I wouldn't do something like that, I didn't even know you were fired. I thought you quit!" 

"Sure, that's what you _want_ him to think," Kate cut in snidely, "He knows how much you wanted him to stop working at Unzipped. He also knows that you'll scheme until you get your way, and that's what you did in this situation too." 

"I did not, you liar!" Sami screamed, "Stop trying to ruin me and Lucas' relationship and get a life!" 

"I don't have to ruin anything. You're the one that doesn't trust the man you claim to want to be with." Kate shot back. 

"That's enough!" Lucas broke up their exchange, "I can't listen to this anymore. Mom, you've said you're part and now I want to be alone, so please leave." 

"But Lucas-" Kate tried to protest but Lucas held up his hand to silence her, then walked her over to the door and closed the door once she was outside of his apartment. 

Now that Kate was gone, Lucas turned back to Sami, his eyes glistening with hurt, "I really wish you hadn't done that, Sami." 

"Lucas, I promise that I didn't do anything," Sami swore. "You have to trust me." 

Lucas laughed bitterly, "Trust is a two-way street. You never trusted me with this job. Who else would have wanted to see me stop working at Unzipped? Besides, if you weren't responsible for my getting fired, why were you waiting for me in my apartment right after I had lost my job?" 

"I- I got a phone call," Sami's lower lip trembled, "Lucas, you can't take your mother's word over mine. You know how much she hates me." 

"I'm sorry, but it's the only thing that makes sense." Lucas shook his head sadly, "I wish things had turned out differently. But it doesn't matter how much I love you anymore, I can't be with a woman who has such little faith in me." 

"Lucas..." Sami reached out to touch his arm but he jerked away from her. 

"Sami, just leave, okay?" Lucas wouldn't meet her gaze, "I'm finished talking about this." 

Sami could tell there wasn't going to be any other way to get through to Lucas at this point. She felt her heart twisting as she walked out of his apartment. She had been so close to being with Lucas again, only to have her chance demolished by Kate. 

Remembering the phone call she had received not much earlier that night, Sami knew there were several women she could confront about this situation. She certainly wasn't behind whatever scheme had been concocted, but she had a feeling she knew who was. If anyone could help her get some answers, Sami figured the most likely candidates were Nicole, Crystal and Jan. She was going to go down to the club and find out exactly what they had done this time. 


	39. A Different Perspective

Chapter Thirty-Nine

* * *

After several blissful minutes of watching Shawn's sexy stripping show, Jan felt a hand grab her arm, bringing her out of her special Shawn zone. Jan turned and almost jumped out of her seat when she saw that the hand which had just taken hold of her arm belonged to none other than Sami Brady.

"Why are you here? You're supposed to be getting some hot Lucas action right now!" Jan exclaimed without giving Sami a chance to speak.

"Is _that_ the result you were aiming for?" Sami put her hands on her hips, her mouth tight with anger, "I hate to disappoint you but your little scheme, whatever the hell it was, had the exact opposite effect. Now Lucas and I are worse off than we were before, thanks to you three."

"That's impossible," Jan's mind reeled with Sami's announcement, "Our plan was impossible to screw up. How in the world did you manage to mess things up so quickly? You and Lucas must have more issues than I thought."

"I don't have enough patience to listen to your criticism at the moment," Sami told the younger woman. "What I do want is for you to get your ass outside and tell me exactly what you did."

Jan turned to the two empty seats beside her wistfully. Nicole and Crystal had abandoned their chairs to get drinks at the bar earlier that night. Jan twirled around so she was facing the bar, checking to see what the two of them were doing. Both of them looked very distracted, Crystal in particular, who was happily doing body shots off of Nicole. Relenting, Jan decided to let them be and deal with Sami on her own this time.

"Let's go then," Jan stood and began heading towards the doors.

Once outside, Jan tried to calm Sami down, "First of all, you shouldn't be upset with us. We were only trying to do you a favour."

Looking only a tiny bit mollified, Sami responded, "If you say so. I just want to know what you had to do with what happened tonight."

"It wasn't that big of a deal," Jan said modestly, "Nicole, Crystal and I just bribed Bonnie to fire Lucas. Then we phoned you and told you. That's it."

"You made it sound like he quit," Sami accused.

"That wasn't intentional at all," Jan lied, coughing into her hand guiltily.

Sami glared at Jan for a few more minutes, "Whatever. You just- you just shouldn't have done it."

"Why not?" Jan asked, "What went wrong? Our plan was perfect."

"Not with Kate around," Sami held her forehead in her hand, looking more sad than angry now, "She managed to convince Lucas that I don't trust him at all. She told him _I_ talked Bonnie into firing him. Lucas doesn't want to have anything to do with me. But I can't lose him, I can't. I have to find a way to make him see that I trust in our feelings for each other."

"Do you know how you're going to do that?"

"No," Sami returned in a strangled voice, "I don't know what to do at all. It feels hopeless. He was only going to believe that I trusted him if I tried to make things work with him while he was working at Unzipped."

"Then it was hopeless from the first night you saw him on stage in his sexy little g-string," Jan stated reasonably. "From day one, you wanted him to quit his job and always made it clear that you wouldn't date a stripper. You have never trusted him with his job."

"It isn't just about not trusting him," Sami shot back, her eyes filled with desperation, "I can't stand knowing that all those women are seeing him in the same way I see him. They might as well be looking at everything he physically has to offer. Nothing about him is mine when he dances in this damn club. It isn't fair. None of those other bitches are in love with him, they shouldn't get to see him when he's undressed." A well of emotionally distraught tears overflowed and once Sami felt the wetness sliding down her cheeks, she sank to the ground, propped up against the wall of the building for support.

Jan knelt down next to Sami and touched her shoulder, trying to console her, "Maybe you just need to look at things from a different perspective."

Wiping her eyes with a quavering hand, Sami peered up at Jan with a liquid gaze, "How do you do it, Jan? If you really are in love with Phillip and Shawn, how can you stand watching them strip night after night when you know that all those other women are seeing all the same things you see, the things that only you should get to see?"

Jan took a moment to find the perfect wording, then answered, "No matter how much everyone else gets to see, I know they don't get to touch Phillip and Shawn, and I know Phillip and Shawn don't want to touch anyone but me and each other. It feels good to be the one going home with Shawn and Phillip after one of their shifts, because I know that there are many others that want what I have."

Sami rubbed her eyes and sniffled, "I never thought about it like that."

"You should have seen it this way from the very beginning," Jan told her. "Think of it like this: there was this one really expensive car that a lot of women walked by and wanted to have. But no one but you had what it took to afford the car."

"That's stupid. Lucas isn't anything like a car," Sami retorted contradictorily, "He's a human being, not something I want to own. I want to be with Lucas for more than just his looks. I also want to be with him because he is the sweetest, most wonderful man I've ever known. No one understands me the way he does, and I know it's the same for him with me."

"Then that's just one more thing you have over every other woman in Salem. You know exactly how amazing he is on the inside." Jan took a deep breath, "Are you ready to trust Lucas completely?"

The idea of trusting Lucas completely was enough to jar Sami out of her hopeful state of mind. She had trusted Lucas for the last few months, but it had been years since she had trusted him, or anyone else, whole-heartedly. Lucas had hurt her many times in the past, but she knew he loved her now. All he wanted in exchange for his love and trust was hers. She had to give that to him if she wanted to hold on to him.

"I- I think so," Sami stammered nervously.

Jan faced Sami, her normally mischievous and playful expression now totally serious, "Don't think. _Know_. Honestly, Sami, you can look at him when he's looking at you and see how much he loves you in his eyes. You can't possibly believe he wants anyone else when he feels the way he does about you."

Sami knew Jan was right. She managed a genuine smile before replying, "You're right. I do trust him. I trust him with my whole heart."

"Good," Jan looked at the club's entrance meaningfully, "Then you know what you have to do to show Lucas that, don't you?"

Sami followed Jan's gaze to the doors. She could see the lights flash and hear the music blaring through the walls. She knew what Jan wanted her to do. Even though she trusted Lucas, every atom in her body cried out in protest when she thought about carrying out the plan Jan wanted her to carry out.

"Isn't there another way I could get him back?" Jan and Sami's eyes met again, and Sami could tell Jan understood right away.

"It's the best way," Jan answered, making Sami recall all of Jan's assurances from that night to help her make her decision.

"It is the best way," Sami finally agreed, knowing Lucas would be worth the sacrifice she was going to make, "I have to do this."

After Jan stood up, she helped Sami to her feet. "Good. We can get Nicole and Crystal, then go find Bonnie right away."

Jan and Sami went back in through the club's entrance, but Sami stopped Jan before she could go any further, "Jan?"

"Yeah?"

Sami smiled at her gratefully, "Thank you."

Jan returned the smile easily, "That's what friends are for," she replied warmly before walking further into the club to find Nicole and Crystal.


	40. Making Up

Chapter Forty

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**Author's Note: Yay, here's the second to last chapter. After forty-one I'm wrapping up this giant porn fest, I promise ;)**

* * *

"Phillip, I don't know what you're trying to do, but I really don't think I'm going to be up to whatever it is." Lucas told his brother, who ignored his protests and drove farther away from Lucas' apartment. Jan, Nicole, Crystal and Sami had given Phillip the formidable chore of getting Lucas down to Unzipped so they could set their plan in motion. Phillip had worked for a good half hour to convince Lucas to take a drive with him. Knowing that Lucas wouldn't have gotten into Phillip's car if he had known where Phillip was planning on taking him, Phillip had simply told him they had to be somewhere important.

Even after his two previous falling outs with Sami, Lucas had never been in as bad shape as he was in now. Not only was he miserable and hard to spend time around, he seemed completely lost. Jan had briefly tried to fill Phillip in on what had went on with his mom, Sami and Lucas a few nights ago, but most of the things Jan had told Phillip were assumptions. Jan was positive that Kate had somehow found out about her meeting with Bonnie and turned around and told Lucas that Sami was behind everything to drive Sami and Lucas farther apart.

As much as Phillip hated to admit it, it sounded exactly like something his mother would do. He was grateful he wasn't in a similar situation with Shawn and Jan as a result of his mother's intrusions, but he knew it could have easily been him in Lucas' position if his mom had focused on his love life first. That knowledge compounded with his loyalty to his older brother was enough to make him willing to help get Lucas and Sami back together in any way he could.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who felt this way. Not only were he, Nicole, Crystal and Jan helping Sami work things out with Lucas, but he knew Brady, Rex, Shawn and Patrick had all pitched in any way they could too. Most of them would be waiting for Lucas' arrival over at the club.

"Just give it a chance," Phillip urged Lucas, "You won't regret this, I promise. And if you do, you have permission to kill me."

Phillip turned the steering wheel to the left and Lucas began recognizing the route Phillip was taking, "What the hell, man? Are you taking me to that- that _place_."

Noticing that Lucas seemed to echo Sami's feelings towards Unzipped, Phillip was even more sure that their plan was going to have very good results.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Phillip's feigned ignorance seemed to annoy Lucas even more, who growled angrily.

"Phillip, I am not going back to Unzipped. Take me home right now."

Phillip was already pulling into the parking lot, "I can't. There's something really important you have to see tonight." Phillip opened his car door and stepped out of the car. Lucas didn't follow his lead.

"This isn't funny. Take me back to my apartment right now." Lucas commanded again, not noticing Phillip's almost amused expression.

"Don't make this hard on me. You're going in there. Whether you go in willingly or unwillingly is your choice. I guess if you don't get out, I'll have to carry you." Phillip thought for a moment, then added, "Or I could just get Shawn and Patrick out here to help drag you inside. They would jump at any opportunity to get their hands on you. They might be dating me, Rex and Jan but they still think you are one sexy-"

"I'm getting out!" Lucas interrupted indignantly, making sure to slam the door extremely hard behind him, "Let's get this over with."

Phillip and Lucas walked into the club, Phillip heading for Bonnie's office and Lucas following behind him with a scowl on his face. Once they reached the office, Phillip let Lucas walk in first. Nicole, Jan and Crystal stood around Bonnie. With a deep sigh, Bonnie mumbled something along the lines of 'here we go again', then looked up at Lucas.

"Lucas," Bonnie sent him an apologetic smile, "I talked Phillip into bringing you back here, because a little while after firing you, I decided I had been too hard on you."

Lucas let out a mirthless laugh, "You only fired me because you were bribed until you agreed to do it."

"I guess there's no fooling you," Bonnie responded. She knew she was very lucky Lucas wasn't more upset about what she had done to him, so she decided it would have been a bad idea to try and deny his accusation. "But like I said, I was much too hasty to take such drastic action."

"What are you trying to say?" Lucas frowned at Bonnie, confused.

"I'm trying to say that I want you to have your job back, if you still want it," Bonnie told him.

Lucas stared at Bonnie in surprise, "Are you serious? What made you change your mind?"

Jan cleared her throat and took a step forward, "Before we explain, I think the three of us," she looked behind her at Nicole and Crystal, "Need to clear something up for you."

"Go ahead," Lucas replied numbly, still in shock from Bonnie's sudden change of heart.

"We know your mom told you that Sami was the one who bribed Bonnie into getting you fired. But the truth is, Sami was as clueless as to what was going on as you were. Nicole, Crystal and I were the ones who bribed Bonnie into firing you. We were trying to help get you and Sami back together. Sami knew to be in your apartment after you lost your job because we kind of, um, called her and told her, but we made it sound like you quit."

"It's true, honey," Bonnie jumped in, "Your little sweetheart had nothing to do with bribing me. It was all these three."

"Your mom lied to you, Lucas. She was trying to keep you and Sami from working things out." Nicole concluded, jumping at the opportunity to help turn Lucas against Kate.

"I can't believe it," Lucas shook his head, disgusted with himself, "God, I should never have overreacted and blamed Sami the way I did. I feel so stupid now."

"Don't feel stupid. You had every right to trust your mother, but at least now you know better. And now that you know Sami didn't sabotage your career here, you two can get back together." Jan pointed out hopefully.

Lucas shook his head unhappily, "Even if I start working here again, it won't change anything. We'll just go back to the beginning. We keep going in circles and the point is, Sami doesn't want me to work here because she'll never trust in me enough."

"I don't know where you're getting that from," Bonnie raised her eyebrows, going along with the plan, "Sami was the one who talked me into giving you your job back."

"What?" Lucas jerked upright at the unexpected news.

"It's true, Lucas," Sami had been standing at the back of the room, so Lucas hadn't seen her when he had entered Bonnie's office. But she finally spoke, walking towards him slowly, "I didn't know if there was any other way to show you that I do trust you. It's true that I've never wanted you to work here, but I need you more than I need to have my way about this."

When Sami reached Lucas, he raised his hand to stroke her cheek, unable to respond to what she had just said.

Sami continued anyway, "I love you, Lucas. And I'm not going to lie, I still don't like the idea of you stripping with so many women watching, but if that's what you need in order to know that I trust you, then I won't try to take that away from you."

"Sweet baby," Lucas murmured affectionately before lowering his mouth onto Sami's. He kissed her deeply, his lips lingering on hers for a few moments. When he pulled away, he smiled at her, knowing she would be happy when she heard what he was about to say.

"I'm not going back to work here," Lucas said, watching her face brighten with surprise and happiness.

"Do you really mean that?" Sami asked.

"I do," Lucas traced the contours of Sami's soft, warm lips with his thumb, "I just needed to know that you trusted me. But if it doesn't make you happy, then I don't want to work here anymore."

Lucas couldn't remember the last time he had seen Sami smile with so much happiness and contentment radiating from her eyes, "God, I love you so much."

"I love you too." Lucas whispered before leaning down to capture her smiling lips. Sami could tell from the way Lucas was molding his mouth over hers with voracious abandon that he wanted to kiss her, really kiss her. Wanting to give him what he wanted, she parted her lips, allowing his silky, wet tongue to slip inside. His hands cupped her cheeks, slanting her head back slightly so he could have more access to the sweet recesses of her mouth.

Around the room, everyone stared at Lucas and Sami without speaking. Finally, Jan broke the stillness by whispering to Nicole and Crystal, "Wow, it looks like they're going to be preoccupied for the next, oh, two years or so. I think they've forgotten that there's five other people in the room."

"Make that more than five people," Nicole responded, watching another group of people come through the doors, "They _finally_ got Kate down here. Could this be any more perfect?"

Brady, Shawn, Rex and Patrick led Kate into the room. Kate appeared to be bordering on pure outrage, which must have meant that the four men had probably dragged her over to the club. When her eyes fell upon Lucas and Sami, she let out a shrill squeal.

"Lucas, what are you doing?" she demanded furiously.

Lucas raised his head to turn and glare at his mother, "I'm making up with the woman I'm going to spend the rest of my life with."

Kate gaped at her son, "What? No, that isn't possible. Don't you remember what she did to get you fired from your job?"

"She had nothing to do with that. You were lying, but it didn't work. Sami and I are back together now, and you are not going to be able to break us up ever again," Lucas finished, his arms locking around Sami's waist possessively.

"No," Kate shook her head, "No, this can't be happening all over again."

"It is," Jan interjected, moving over so she was standing right next to Phillip, "And don't even think of trying anything with me, Phillip and Shawn. Nicole and I have already agreed to have you permanently banned from this club now that we own it, and that's only the beginning of what we're going to do to make you pay."

"Excuse me?" Bonnie shot Jan a look of disbelief, "You don't own this club, I do."

"Correction, all you ever did was manage this club. _Mickey_ owned the club before I bought it from him," Nicole countered. "We filled him in on how you accepted bribes to fire Lucas, and we managed to convince him that we would do a much better job of running this club. So, it's ours now. Me, Crystal, Jan and Brady all have equal shares."

"But- but- but," Bonnie sputtered, unable to form a complete sentence.

"And as our first business move concerning Unzipped, we're firing you, Bonnie," Nicole added happily. "You still have Alice's Bar and the money I gave you though, so I wouldn't complain if I were you."

"This is ridiculous," Bonnie fumed, rising from her seat, "I'm going to go find Mickey and see if he can explain this!"

After Bonnie left, Lucas turned his attention back to Sami, "Want to go home?" he asked, his eyes shining with his love for her.

Sami nodded wordlessly, lacing her fingers through Lucas'. When walking by Kate, Sami couldn't resist a quick, victorious smile to anger Kate further. She and Lucas thanked Jan and the rest of her helpers, then continued walking towards the exit of the club. Now that everything was finally coming together for her and Lucas, Sami knew that there was only one way she wanted to spend this night, and she was already looking forward to making up for lost time.


	41. Lap Dance Number Two

Chapter Forty-One

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**Author's Note: This is the longest story I've even written. It was a lot of fun to write, but it's a pretty big relief to have it finished. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with this story despite it's length and everything so glaringly _wrong_ with it ;). A special thanks goes to QuasiOuster for her suggestion that helped me write this last chapter.**

* * *

Once they reached Sami's apartment, Sami and Lucas became inseparable. Their hands travelled up and down the lengths of each other's bodies, re-exploring and re-possessing. Their mouths also remained melded together as they advanced further into the apartment. Sami pressed herself flush against Lucas, her lips nibbling and suckling at his lips. Lucas responded to her lust-filled actions by sliding his tongue into her waiting mouth, tasting every inch of the warm, inviting cavity. 

Sami's own tongue darted forward to mate with Lucas'. She sucked on his tongue with mild aggression, wanting to pull Lucas even farther into her mouth. With the amount of deep-tongue kissing going on, breathing was becoming almost impossible, but Sami realized she didn't care. At that moment, kissing Lucas, touching Lucas, just being with Lucas in general was more important than anything else. Knowing that she and Lucas were going to be together for good this time made Sami aware of exactly how much she loved Lucas. He was the only person who had ever made her believe in true love and happy endings and all the good things in life. No one else had ever been able to do that for her, not even Brandon or Austin.

Their lips finally parted with a slick, wet sound. "I love you," Sami managed to gasp between deep, hungry breaths.

"And I love you," Lucas responded in a low, husky murmur, then dropped his head down so his lips could trail a path down the side of Sami's neck. Sami threw her head back, enjoying the jolts of pleasure she received from every movement of Lucas' head as he continued dragging his mouth along her throat. Seconds later, her back hit the wall several feet away from her bedroom door. His tongue still savoring the taste of her, Lucas slid one hand underneath her shirt, running up the terrain of soft, silky skin. His hand found the lace of her bra, and his fingers moved across the fabric, running his thumb over her nipple above the material. Sami arched into his touch, wishing there was nothing between Lucas and her skin.

"Come on," Sami took his free hand and tugged him towards the open door. Once inside, Sami wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her bed. Sami ground herself against him, meeting the hard, muscular planes of his body. God, he was perfect. His body was built for sex. The strip club had lost a very valuable asset when Lucas had made it clear he wouldn't be returning to work there. _Oh, well, their loss is my gain_, Sami thought, a slow heat thudding through her veins. She didn't want to think about the strip club though. She wanted to think about Lucas, only Lucas.

But the fleeting memory of Unzipped _had_ given her a very good idea. She took complete control, giving Lucas a little push, making him sit down on the edge of her bed. She didn't give him any time to react before climbing into his lap, her knees sandwiching his thighs.

"The lap dance you gave me at Unzipped was amazing," she whispered into his ear, feeling the tiny shudder she elicited as her breath tickled his skin, "Now I want to give you one."

"You'll hear no complaints from me," Lucas replied, sliding his hands onto her hips and scooting further back onto the bed, making sure Sami wouldn't fall. Her breasts pressed into his chest as she rolled her hips against his body slowly and deliberately. Unlike their last lap dance session, there was no music this time, but Sami knew even if there had been music, she wouldn't have been able to hear it. She was too aware of Lucas' hands on her, of the warm places on his body that she was making contact with, of his fluctuating breathing levels. With Lucas' help, she pulled away from him slightly and yanked his shirt up over his head. With one hand still draped over one of his shoulders, Sami brought her other hand down to skate across the defined ridges of his chest. Her fingertips grazed one nipple and she felt it tighten in response.

Her body vibrated with need as she continued rocking her hips in his lap, feeling his hard erection straining against the fly of his jeans. Sami was in heaven. There was nothing else like this. Nothing else could make every nerve ending in her body come alive so easily as being with Lucas did. She ground against his arousal shamelessly, and his breaths quickened. His eyes had been staying in contact with hers, but when her hands slid lower, his eyes followed.

Arching her back, her hands glided up her thighs, making her short, black skirt ride up even higher.

"How am I doing?" she asked seductively, her hands moving back around to smooth along Lucas' shoulder blades.

"Wonderful," Lucas managed to croak, his eyes still on the short garment barely covering the top halfs of her legs, "I've never seen you in this skirt before though."

"The skirt was Jan's," Sami told him, "She said I could have it. We also went out and bought something else I'm wearing right now. Jan said you would like the surprise. I know you have a few of these things too. In fact, you had to buy them before you could start working at Unzipped." Her blue eyes were bright and playful. Lucas suddenly realized exactly what she was talking about.

He moved his hands from her hips to slide under the short skirt and ran his hands around to cup her ass. His hands met with the bare, satiny skin he had been expecting and if it was possible, he was suddenly even more turned on than he had been moments before. After a few more seconds of searching, Lucas found the tiny strap of her g-string.

"Sami," Lucas groaned, "Do you have any idea how much I want you right now?"

Sami eyed the bulge in his jeans hungrily, "I think I have a good idea. And you can have me. You always did."

He looked up at her and saw the perfect combination of love and lust blazing from her eyes. He slid his hand into her hair and drew her mouth onto his. As they kissed, Sami's hands deftly undid his jeans and pulled the denim down his legs. His boxers followed the same path until Lucas' hard shaft was uncovered completely. Arousal dampened Sami's unusually skimpy panties just from looking at the impressive erection, and when she stroked her fingers along the generous length, her sex throbbed even more, begging for Lucas' attention.

But despite the rattling intensity of her desire, she tried to continue her lap dance. Undulating against him mercilessly, she began pulling the corners of her shirt upwards, exposing her smooth, flat stomach inch by inch. Once her shirt was off, she reached behind her to the clasp on her bra. After fumbling with the clasp for a moment, it came apart and Sami shrugged out of the bra. Now that she was fully undressed from the waist up, Sami leaned forward and pressed herself against Lucas, feeling her nipples tighten into diamond hard points once they made contact with Lucas' warm skin.

Lucas let out a low groan, his hands leaving their position on Sami's hips to ease upwards. He palmed her breasts in his hands, his fingertips teasing and stroking the peaks into tightening even more. Sami flung her head back helplessly, knowing that she couldn't hold out any longer.

"Lucas, I need you," she panted. "Touch me, please."

Lucas didn't need her to say another word. His mouth replaced his hand on her nipple, fastening his lips around it and tonguing the engorged point. His other hand made its way down her body until it slipped underneath her skirt. After tugging the g-string down her legs, one finger dipped into her slick passage, relentlessly seeking out her most sensitive spot and stroking it over and over. Sami's knees buckled and sparks exploded in her brain. His touch was quickly unraveling the last of her composure, and she wanted him to be making love to her when she finally let herself go completely.

"Lucas..." she writhed against his hand, her eyes pleading with him silently, and he knew what she needed right away. He withdrew his hand from her core, then grasped her hips in his hands firmly. He held them in place as he guided his throbbing member into her damp entrance. He felt her body stretch to let him in and he closed his eyes, his hands tightening their grip on Sami's hips the slightest bit.

"God, Sami," he murmured, trying to hold onto some semblance of control as he thrust his hips upwards into Sami's insatiable heat, "You feel so good. So damn good..."

Sami was too absorbed in the sensations Lucas was creating with every thrust into her to reply. She moved with Lucas flawlessly, raising herself up until their union was almost broken, then sinking back down to fill herself with him once again. Each time he entered her completely, the base of his cock rubbed against her clit, causing waves of tingling sensation to wash over her repeatedly, pushing her towards the edge at a fast, desperate pace.

As she continued moving towards her release, her body tightened with greedy contractions, milking Lucas' shaft until he had to cover her mouth with his to stifle his groans. Lucas slid home a only a few more times before the tension inside Sami snapped, her body shuddering and clenching while Lucas thrust into her for another few seconds before reaching his own breaking point.

Sami and Lucas both fell backwards so they were lying on the bed. Positioned directly on top of Lucas, Sami smiled down at him, knowing that she had just experienced what would be the first of many earth-shattering orgasms with the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with.

Lucas seemed to be reading her mind as he ran his hand down her back tenderly, "I love you so much, Sami. You don't know how happy I am that everything worked out tonight."

"Not as glad as I am," Sami responded, "Now Will is going to come home and see that we're all going to be a family. Everything is going to be amazing, Lucas. Nothing can change that now."

Her mouth was on top of his in a light, affectionate kiss before he could reply, and for the first time that summer, Lucas believed Sami's last words about everything working out perfectly for them without a single ounce of uncertainty.


	42. Epilogue

Unzipped: The Epilogue

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**Author's Note: I hadn't been planning on writing one of these for Unzipped, but Colleen wanted one, so this is for her. I hope it lives up to what she was expecting.**

* * *

Sami had been to many weddings in the past. Some of them had been for her, some of them had been for others. She knew from experience that weddings, especially her own, could get out of hand and turn into events she would rather forget than hold in her memory forever. However, Sami had never dreamed of attending a wedding, much less having her own wedding, in such an unconventional setting. 

Lucas had sworn the idea was his and his alone, but Sami suspected that the club's new owners had more to do with the situation than they let on. Brady, Nicole, Crystal and Jan hadn't hesitated or seemed even the slightest bit surprised upon hearing Lucas and Sami's request to get married at Unzipped. Not only had they immediately agreed to host the wedding, but all four of them had quickly went to work making preparations.

Sami's bridesmaids were now flocked around her in one of the club's back rooms, helping her get ready. The fact that they were in the same room Lucas had given her a lap dance in was doing nothing to soothe the fluttering sensations in Sami's stomach. She couldn't believe she had let Lucas talk her into this.

* * *

_"You've got to be kidding me!" Sami exclaimed before Lucas had even finished his sentence. "You want us to get married there? Why?" _

Lucas' dark eyes bore into Sami's pleadingly. "Come on, honey, it'll be fun. I bet we'll be the first people to get married in a strip club. Besides, the club comes with a lot of... interesting memories for us."

"Yeah, well, they weren't all good ones," Sami mumbled.

"Oh, I can point out a few exceptionally good ones, though," Lucas said, a little smirk playing around the edges of his mouth. "Like the time you spanked me. Or the time you licked me all over in front of everyone in the club for that contest. Or the time we-"

Sami slugged him in the shoulder, her face colouring at the memories his words evoked. "Fine, you've made your point. But we'll never find someone to marry us off at a strip club."

"Of course we will," Lucas assured her confidently. "There's all kinds of people here in Salem. There has to be at least one priest that won't mind. Plus, Jan and Brady and them own the club now. They're our friends. I'm sure they'll go out of their way to make the wedding fantastic. Think about how wonderful it would be."

"But..." Sami bit her lip, searching for another argument. Arguing was becoming difficult with the case Lucas was presenting. She was actually beginning to think that the two of them getting married at Unzipped would be a nice experience. It would definitely be an interesting one at any rate. She finally found a decent argument and voiced it right away.

"Lucas, what about Will? He'll want to be part of the wedding. Think about how bad he'll feel if we get married while he's off at camp." Sami pointed out.

"It can be a surprise for him once he gets back from camp." Lucas nuzzled her neck, knowing that touching her in the right ways could help him get his way with her. "I'm sure he'll understand once we explain the circumstances, and I think he'll just be glad that we're all going to be a family."

"That's another thing." Sami's eyes threatened to flutter closed as Lucas kissed a path along her throat. "We only made up a few days ago. Don't you think we're going too fast?"

Lucas shook his head earnestly. "Sami, I have dreamed about marrying you for months now. I know you're the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with." He reached for her hand and squeezed it gently. "Do you feel the same way about me?"

Sami nodded silently, and Lucas' face lit up with a relieved smile. "Then why should we wait? I can't think of a better way to end this summer." Sensing that he had almost won, Lucas leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss into Sami's mouth for the finishing touch. Sami drank in the warmth of his lips despite knowing she was seconds away from giving in. It was impossible to be resentful about Lucas winning her over when she enjoyed kissing him this much.

* * *

Sami smoothed down the thin silk of her dress nervously while Nicole, Jan and Crystal continued their excited conversation about the wedding. 

"This is going to be so perfect!" Crystal squealed excitedly. "Could our bridesmaids' outfits _be_ any sexier? They're so much better than the standard, prissy dresses most bridesmaids wear."

There certainly wasn't anything standard about the bridesmaids outfits for these bridesmaids. Their pale pink teddies were trimmed with black while black garters held up matching pink stockings. The outfits they wore would do a great job of complimenting the revealing outfits Lucas' groomsmen would be wearing.

Jan and Nicole looked just as pleased with the clothing as Crystal did. "Don't we look awesome, Sami?" Jan asked.

"Oh, very," Sami replied with a touch of sarcasm, "I'm just glad that everyone will be too busy staring at you three to notice what I'm wearing."

Jan seemed slightly offended by Sami's last comment. "Sami, stop worrying. You look very hot. Lucas will want your body so much that he may not be able to wait until the honeymoon."

Sami stared down at the dress her bridesmaids had helped her pick out. It wasn't a standard, traditional wedding dress either, but at least it was white. Tiny straps led down to a semi low-cut neckline, and the bottom of the dress reached to about mid-thigh on her. It wasn't anywhere near as provocative as what Jan, Nicole and Crystal were wearing, but it really wasn't the type of thing she was used to wearing for her weddings. Then again, maybe this drastic change was exactly what she and Lucas needed. It was something completely different, and maybe that difference would be what would help Sami make it to her honeymoon for a change.

"Well, I hope he likes it," Sami said anxiously. "I can't believe I'm actually getting married to Lucas and that I'm doing it here. It's amazing."

"Yeah," Jan said in a dreamy voice, "I wish I could get married, but then I would have to choose between Shawn and Philip. Hey, maybe I could marry them both. I could make it work, I just know it!"

Sami rolled her eyes, "Jan Spears the wannabe bigamist. Why am I not surprised?"

Before Jan could reply, the door to the room opened. Philip, Shawn, Rex, Patrick and Brady all filed into the room. Since Brady was one of the club's owners and didn't want to wear a g-string in public, he was going to be walking Sami down the aisle. Sami had briefly considered letting John do it, but had decided against it in the end. Rex and Philip had fought over the position of the best man, so Lucas had made both of them, along with Shawn and Patrick, groomsmen.

"Are you ladies ready?" Philip asked, his eyes immediately taking in Jan's skimpy outfit. "We have to walk down the aisle soon."

A slow smile spread across Jan's face as she looked each man over very thoroughly. Sami, on the other hand, gave the men a much hastier look. Each of them wore a white bow-tie around their neck, and all of the groomsmen wore black g-strings. Brady was wearing a pair of dress pants instead of a g-string. It was nice to see that someone besides her still had some reservations about taking off their clothes in this place.

"We're ready," Nicole answered for Jan, looping her arm through Rex's. The groomsmen and bridesmaids were going to walk down the aisle in pairs, except for Jan, Shawn and Philip, who would walk down the aisle together at the end. Crystal linked arms with Patrick, and Jan was more than happy to do the same with Shawn and Philip. They all left the back room and headed towards the main part of the club.

Sami peeked into the main room of the club, making sure she wasn't seen by Lucas or anyone else. The 'altar' had been set up right in front of the stage and several of the tables had been moved to the side to make room for the aisle. The club had been decorated elegantly with ribbons and white roses. Instead of looking like a wild party center, the main room of Unzipped had been transformed into a place beautiful and romantic enough to hold a wedding in. Nicole, Crystal and everyone else who had worked on getting the club ready had done a fantastic job.

Crystal had already started walking down the aisle with Patrick, and Nicole and Rex were preparing to take their walk down, so Sami turned to Jan. "Thank you so much for all of this. Everything looks incredible. It must have cost a lot of money."

Jan beamed at Sami. "Hey, we're friends. I was happy to do it. Besides, it's not like me, Nicole and Brady are poor or anything. Oh, and the fact that we're getting a lot of publicity from this doesn't hurt either."

"You are?" Sami whispered, surprised.

"Yeah. There's a reporter doing a story on your wedding. I can already see the headline: 'Dreams really do come true at Unzipped'." Jan let out a contented sigh just thinking about it.

Shawn nudged Jan, "It's our turn to walk." Jan nodded, threw Sami a parting wink, then began the slow walk down the aisle.

* * *

Kate sank lower in her seat, her face reddening with anger and embarrassment when Philip emerged with Jan and Shawn at his side. Kate looked away from the trio walking down the aisle, very unhappy about her sons dressing so indecently. This wedding was a joke, and she was going to make sure she let everyone know it when the time came for her to voice her objections. Lucas was not going to marry Sami. Sami was a worthless whore. She was holding her wedding at a male strip bar for Christ's sake. Didn't she have _any_ morals? 

Kate turned to the man sitting next to her and almost smiled. At least John was with her to make this more tolerable. She and John had been getting closer lately, and she was sure John was interested in her. She was very flattered, but had already decided to keep John waiting for another month or so, just to honour Roman for a little while longer.

John hadn't seemed happy about all the men in g-strings either. He was currently looking up at the altar, but he wasn't looking at any of the men. Kate followed his gaze and realized he was eyeing Crystal rather lustfully. Crystal was smiling seductively at him in return, which seemed to be annoying Nicole. Kate watched as Crystal blew John a kiss that made John's eyebrow shoot up.

Kate was offended. Now John was paying more attention to a skimpily-dressed slut than her. To make matters worse, everyone turned to watch Sami and Brady walk down the aisle. Kate gaped at Sami's short dress, even more disgusted with Sami than she had been moments before. There was no way she was going to let Lucas marry Sami. No way in hell.

* * *

Sami slowly made her way towards the altar, barely remembering to breathe. She had forced herself not to look at Lucas moments earlier when she had surveyed the club's decorations, but now that she was walking towards him, her eyes refused to look at anything but Lucas. His bow-tie was black instead of white and he was wearing a g-string. He had promised it would be the last time he would ever wear one in public, and Sami found herself not even minding that he was wearing the tiny article of clothing in front of so many people. She was using Jan's strategy; all she had to do was remember that every other woman in the room would only be able to look at what they couldn't have, what Sami was going to have for the rest her life. 

Lucas was looking back at her, taking in her dress appreciatively. Sami mirrored his gaze, admiring the muscular plain of his chest, the slope of his shoulders and the toned lines of his legs. No matter how much time she spent looking at him, she never grew tired of doing it. When she reached Lucas, the two of them exchanged a soft, affectionate smile.

The minister began the ceremony. Sami still couldn't believe there had been someone willing to marry them off at a strip club. It just proved that there really were all kinds of people in Salem.

* * *

Belle had seated herself at the table closest to the altar before the wedding had began. Mimi sat across from her, wishing there was some way she could cheer Belle up. Belle had been very upset that Sami hadn't asked her to be the Maid of Honour. Sami didn't even have a Maid of Honour! Belle was sad she wasn't a part of the wedding because now no one was paying attention to her. Actually, Mimi was, but Mimi always paid attention to her. Belle had only come to the wedding so she could pout and look unhappy to make Sami feel guilty. Unfortunately, Sami hadn't looked her way once. 

Sighing dramatically, Belle pulled her eyes away from Sami and looked at Brady. Belle still didn't understand why her brother had walked Sami down the aisle. Brady hadn't seemed unhappy about carrying out the task, though. In fact, he looked quite content standing across from Lucas. If Belle wasn't mistaken, Brady seemed a little too content as he ogled Lucas' barely concealed body.

Belle leaned across the table to whisper to Mimi, "Is it just me, or does Brady seem to be staring at Lucas in very gay ways?"

Mimi looked at Brady for a moment, then turned back to Belle, "I don't think it's just you."

Belle frowned and shook her head. "Well, that's stupid. My brother is so gay."

"He is," Mimi said loyally, her foot nudging Belle's under the table as she gave her friend a knowing smile. "I guess it runs in the family."

Belle had no choice but to agree with her. Before losing Shawn and Philip to that bitch, Jan Spears, Belle had believed that she would be the last person to do anything 'gay'. Then she had lost the two men in her life because they hadn't been dedicated enough to her. That had made her realize that gender was something she would have to overlook if she wanted the perfect boyfriend or girlfriend. Mimi was that perfect girlfriend. Mimi was completely dedicated and loyal to Belle. She hung onto Belle's every word. Belle smiled back at Mimi, deciding that her life wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

Sami and Lucas both finished saying their vows and exchanged rings. They stood several feet apart, blue eyes boring into brown while they anxiously awaited the minister's next words. The minister looked up from the impatient but happy couple and did a visual sweep of the wedding guests. 

"If there is anyone who knows of any reason why these two should not be joined in Holy Matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace." the minister said.

Kate practically jumped out of her chair. "It's about time! I object!"

"Really?" The minister stared at Kate expectantly while Sami and Lucas exchanged annoyed looks. "Why?"

"Because that is my son!" Kate pointed to Lucas, who scowled back at her defiantly. "I don't want him anywhere near that piece of trash. Look at her! Look at what she's made my son wear! Look at this whole pathetic excuse of a wedding! Sami is ruining my son and I won't stand for it!"

"Mom, how many times do I have to tell you to leave me and Sami alone?" Lucas jumped in to defend his soon-to-be wife. "This wasn't even Sami's idea. It was mine. Stop calling the most amazing woman in my life a piece of trash. I'm sick of it!"

A chorus of 'aws' sounded through the room, particularly from the bridesmaids. Sami gave Lucas a grateful smile while Kate sputtered incoherently with rage.

"Thank you, Lucas," Sami said before turning to the minister. "I think we can get on with the ceremony since Kate is just being an idiot as usual. I really don't want to wait any longer to become Mrs. Lucas Roberts." Unable to stop herself, Sami flung a victorious smirk in Kate's direction, who looked ready to race up to the altar and tear Sami apart. Before Kate could move, John snagged her arm and tugged her back into her seat.

"Let it go, Katie," John told her firmly. "There's nothing you can do to stop it. Just let them enjoy their wedding."

Kate's eyes stung with fury. Kate knew what was coming next and knew it would be too much for her to handle, so she turned away from the altar, unable to watch the next part of the ceremony.

The minster gave Kate another wary look, then proceeded, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

The minster's last words rang through the club as Sami and Lucas' cue to share their first kiss as husband and wife. Cameras flashed, recording the moment Lucas and Sami brought their lips together in a deep, searching kiss. As usual, heat flowed between their mouths as they took in the feel of each other, and there was nothing new about the electricity and need that zinged through their bodies as they kissed. But this time it felt like there was an even stronger force holding them together. Sami wound her arms around her husband's neck, realizing in a daze that this was the real thing. She and Lucas were married. They were bound together by not only their love, but by the law. Sami knew that nothing, not even Kate, could pull her away from the man in front of her now.

Sami didn't want the kiss to end, and Lucas seemed to share her opinion. His jaw worked slowly and sensually against hers. Their bodies were close, so close that Sami could feel the warmth of Lucas' bare skin through her thin dress.

Lucas and Sami's prolonged kiss amused most of the wedding guests. The bridesmaids and groomsmen were also amused, but were more impatient about starting the reception than anything else. Jan, Nicole, Philip and Rex began coughing pointedly, and it wasn't long before Shawn, Crystal, Brady and Patrick had all joined in, too. Finally Sami and Lucas broke apart and the wedding guests cheered.

After the marriage license was signed and pictures of the wedding party had been taken, Sami prepared to throw her bouquet so the reception party could officially start. She tossed it over her shoulder, then spun around to see the bouquet land in the hands of Jan Spears. Jan grinned and quickly wiped the nervous expressions off Shawn and Philip's faces with her next words.

"Don't worry, neither one of you will be left out," Jan assured them. "I couldn't possibly marry one of you and not the other. That would be mean."

"Oh, God," Sami muttered to Lucas. "She probably thinks I threw the bouquet at her on purpose because I support her bigamist ways."

Lucas let out a low chuckle. "The sad thing is that the only way I can picture Jan getting married is if I picture her taking both Shawn and Philip away to some obscure little country where group marriages are legal."

The wedding bouquet was soon forgotten by Sami and Lucas as music began playing from the speakers. Sami saw that most of the people from her wedding party were on the stage dancing to the music. Crystal saw Sami watching them and gestured at Sami to join them.

"Come dance with us!" Crystal called over the music.

Sami and Lucas did join the others on the stage, but made plans to escape the reception to start their honeymoon early while they danced.

"So, we're going to gradually dance closer to the back of the stage, then we're going to go backstage, then we're going to split." Lucas summarized their escape plan in Sami's ear while their hips moved languidly to the music.

"Mm, sounds wonderful," Sami leaned into Lucas a little bit more, feeling his hold on her tighten. She looked up at everyone else on the stage. All of them looked very preoccupied with their own dance partners. "I'm sure it'll be a while before anyone from our wedding party notices we're gone."

Lucas looked at the others and nodded agreeably. "Besides, I'm sure they'll understand." His thumbs rubbed little circles on her hips, the silk of her dress shifting slightly under his touch. "Thank you for letting us do this. It's been incredible. I can't believe you're really my wife."

"I should be the one thanking you," Sami responded, her fingers stroking the nape of his neck. "I can't remember the last time I've been so happy. So, thank _you_."

Lucas dropped his mouth onto hers in return. They continued kissing as they subtlety inched towards the backstage door, preparing to escape the reception so they could spend as much time as possible alone together on their honeymoon.


End file.
